Ex-Bok skipper: 'South Africa is not New Zealand, we’re not Ireland'

Victor Matfield has warned that South Africa may have slipped into arrogance prior to their shock 38–22 defeat to Australia at Ellis Park, saying the Springboks must remember who they are.

Matfield, who won 127 caps for the Springboks and lifted the 2007 Rugby World Cup, captained both South Africa and the Bulls during a decorated career, said he had seen echoes of his dominant Bulls side, but that South Africa lacked the control to close out the match once they were 22-0 ahead.

“I mean, the first 20 minutes was like, okay, this is a team on the next level. But remember, we talked about it last week — South Africa is not New Zealand, we’re not Ireland,” Matfield told John Kirwan on Rivals: The Podcast.

“It’s difficult to say because I’ve played in a team, with the Bulls, where we were really dominant. We started off very conservative, we had a certain DNA, and then we evolved our game and got it right. But we had the right decision-makers in the right positions to still be able to win finals.

“You’re 24 [sic 22] something up, you haven’t put in one box kick in the whole first half, and then in the second half you go, ‘Listen, we’re 20 points ahead, we don’t have to play rugby. Let’s just be conservative. Let’s kick into the corners.’

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“But I think yesterday, in that first half, I looked at it and thought: I’ve never seen South Africa play with the width that we played. It was unbelievable. We scored beautiful tries. It was so easy to get momentum, so easy to get over the gain line.

“But I’m a cyclist as well, and in cycling they always say you’ve only got so many matches to burn. Doesn’t matter how fit you are, you’ve only got so many matches. And I think as South Africans, with our DNA, we need to use our matches in the right way.

“Maybe we were a bit overconfident, maybe a bit arrogant, I don’t know. But I just thought we played way too much rugby after we were 22-0 up. We didn’t have to play rugby. We could’ve just kicked in behind them. I don’t think Australia have the game right now to threaten you from their own 22.

“They’re a team like Rassie’s Boks when he first started – they do a few things right, they’re very disciplined, they don’t make mistakes, and when you make mistakes, they punish you. And that’s what they did.

“South Africa played too much rugby in that second half, gave them turnovers, gave them opportunities, and then all of a sudden the crowd went quiet, the pressure came onto the Springboks. And that’s what happened in the game – suddenly everything went wrong.”

Matfield said the problem was not just tactical, but structural, with South Africa’s approach to selection also coming into question.

“Yeah, and I’m saying it. I’m talking about overconfidence, maybe arrogance. Even our fans, our supporters, old players, all of us… we believe in whatever Rassie is doing. We believe in the squad.

“Beforehand, we played golf on Friday with George Gregan, and in South Africa there’s this thing going around about the five teams we can select. But do you really want to select five teams? I’m still not quite there. Or do you want to say, listen, this is my 15 best players – or my 23, maybe 25 best players – and I need them in big games.

“I mean, you’ve got Handré Pollard in your squad. You’re playing Australia, a team that just lost out against the British & Irish Lions. How do you have a guy who’s won you two World Cups not at least on the bench? Manie Libbok played brilliantly in that first half, but when the pressure came on, that’s when you want a guy like Handré. You say, ‘Listen, go on, just calm things down.’

“At 22-12 up, we’re between the two tens; you don’t have to play rugby. Just kick it in behind them, kick it into their 22. Instead, we try an intercept pass, and suddenly all the pressure is on us. I think that’s where we’re missing out at the moment.

“Yes, we want to grow a squad, and we believe in our squad. Rassie believes in giving youngsters opportunities and putting them under pressure. And in the past, they’ve come through. This was one game where they didn’t.

“So, are we maybe being too critical now? Maybe. But I think it was a wake-up call for South Africa. We’re not so far ahead of everyone else as we might think. And we need to make sure that when we go into big Test matches, we’ve got our best players out there as well.”