Kolisi addresses passing issues in Adelaide loss

Captain Siya Kolisi has rued South Africa’s handling errors after their 25-17 defeat against Australia in their opening Rugby Championship tour match at the Adelaide Oval.

Dave Rennie’s Wallabies outscored the visitors by three tries to two and kicked two penalty goals to one from the Springboks, which saw them seal the victory.

Handling errors proved an issue for the Boks, and it wasn’t lost on Kolisi.

“I thought the Wallabies played really well, and they took the opportunities they created, whereas we didn’t,” said Kolisi. “We could certainly have been more clinical, but their defence was good and they did well to get a few crucial steals.”

“Our last passes didn’t go to hand, but as coach Jacques always says, no-one intentionally knocks on the ball. Our set pieces were good, but we can always get better, so we will go back and review the game, and we are looking forward to the next clash against them.”

Nienaber also lamented the Springboks’ seeming inability to convert pressure into points.

“It was frustrating how many opportunities we created but didn’t convert into points,” said Nienaber.

“It is something that has happened in our last few games, so we will work hard to correct that. We were in Australia’s 22 about 13 times, if not more, and we didn’t come away with points a lot of the time, and when they were in our 22, they used their chances well and got the rewards for it.”

“We will have a good review of the game, take the lessons learned, and ensure that we are up for next week’s clash in Sydney. The nice thing is that we will have another chance against Australia in seven days and hopefully we will be able to turn things around.”

“I thought Marika’s tackle showed the desperation of not just him but there was a couple of desperation tackles on their tryline,” Nienaber said. “A lot of credit has to go to Wallabies, they really put their bodies on the line.”

The Springboks will leave Adelaide for Sydney tomorrow for their second clash against the Wallablies at the Allianz Stadium next weekend.