Springbok centre Jesse Kriel was gracious following the team’s defeat against the All Blacks in Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry series opener in Johannesburg on Saturday night, and said they would take the result on the chin and put in the hard yards in the coming days to ensure that they pitch up stronger next weekend.
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The Springboks went down 33-16 at Ellis Park, and had Sunday off to recover from the physically demanding clash, before returning to the training field on Monday to begin their preparations for the second encounter between the sides at the Cape Town Stadium in Cape Town next Saturday.
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“We’ll obviously watch the game again and work through it,” Kriel told the media after Saturday’s match.
“We have another whole week to prepare, and we’ll do what we need to do. We’re a team that finds solutions, and we’ll be up for it next week.”
Convert opportunities
The outside centre, who earned his 91st Test cap, reiterated Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus’ sentiments after the match that at top international level, you have to convert your opportunities into points.
“In Test match rugby, if you don’t convert and take your opportunities and other teams do, the scoreboard is normally not in your favour and we clearly had to be more clinical,” said Jesse Kriel.
“The All Blacks were when they got their chances, and at the highest level between the two best teams in the world, that’s what happens.
“There are very small margins for error in a Test match of this magnitude and on an occasion like this, so we’ll have to be better there, and we are looking forward to the challenge next week.”
‘Have to be able to adapt’
With the Springbok coaches forced to make several positional changes during the game due to a series of occurrences throughout the match, Kriel, who moved to wing, said they do plan for situations like that.
“In big games like this you have to be able to adapt,” he said.
“It doesn’t normally happen a lot, but when it does, I think we reacted pretty well. I just don’t think we were as accurate as we wanted to be on the night, and New Zealand put us under a lot of pressure.”
Travel plans
The Springboks will remain in Johannesburg until Wednesday and travel to Cape Town on Thursday.
They will then return to Johannesburg for the third match between the sides at the FNB Stadium near Soweto before travelling to the USA for the closing game of the competition in Baltimore.
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