The Springboks will be targeting an improved performance this week when they face the All Blacks in Cape Town in round four of the Rugby Championship. The Boks have delayed their team announcement until Thursday to ensure that the injured players such as Siya Kolisi can come into contention for selection.

The Boks are also mindful of the fact that the All Blacks proved against Argentina that they know how to bounce back. The All Blacks are hurting after the weekend’s 31-27 defeat in Johannesburg and a lot has been said about Bongi Mbonambi’s try.  

There are a couple of decisions which went the way of the All Blacks as well, and they were rather lucky that Sam Cane’s high tackle on Siya Kolisi was overlooked. Another referee and TMO may have given the former All Blacks captain a second consecutive red card against the world champions.

The Springboks scrum coach, Daan Human, said there is no point in dwelling on the past, but it is important to focus on what they can do to improve their performance. “At the moment we’re concentrating on ourselves and where we can get better,” said the former Free State coach. “We must never forget and we must always try and get better on our side.

“Yes, we must take into consideration that the All Blacks bounced back against Argentina. We must think about the opposition, it is important and we have a lot of respect for them.

“But at this point, we can only do what we can do and we can’t control their performance. We can only control ours and we must do that to the utmost.”

Saturday’s Test in the Cape Town Stadium kicks off at 17:00.

OFM Sport/Morgan Piek cg