Mike Blair frustrated after another Test plagued by missed 'opportunities'

Creating opportunities, but not finishing them. That’s the feeling from All Blacks assistant coach Mike Blair, who feels that at FNB Stadium, they put themselves in the right positions but couldn’t capitalise on those chances.

Blair’s admission follows the All Blacks’ 29-24 defeat to the Springboks in Soweto, where the home side were clinical in pouncing on the visitors’ mistakes.

Dave Rennie’s All Blacks started the better of the two heavyweight sides, but couldn’t survive the brutal power game the Springboks threw at them.

Rassie Erasmus made small changes to his 23-man squad for the third Test of Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry, largely opting for consistency to help clinch a home series victory.

Blair felt that the All Blacks put the experienced Springboks players under pressure at times, but couldn’t make the most of the momentum shifts in the 80-minute contest.

“Yeah, we’re obviously really disappointed with the result. We felt in the first half we put a lot of our game on the pitch,” Blair told Jason Pine on Newstalk ZB’s Weekend Sport.

“We were able to move South Africa around. We scored a couple of great tries, and we felt we were going to bear fruit for the work that we put in the first half. Unfortunately, in the second half, we struggled to get any momentum in the game for one reason or another.

“I thought the South Africans defended well, and their set piece was excellent as well, and they were able to get their game on the pitch.

Rennie and his coaching staff, including Blair, picked the same backline that fell to the first defeat under the new regime the week prior in Cape Town.

That same backline created a handful of opportunities, but the attack coach was understandably disappointed with the way his side finished them.

“So, yeah, we’re frustrated. We had some excellent work. I think we had 12 line breaks, which is a great stat against the South African defence,” the Scotland-born assistant coach said.

“But it was the same story last week; we just need to finish those opportunities.”

“We’re also really confident in what we’re trying to do; we’ve got to just put our game together for longer. I think you’ll have seen in that first half.

“But when we can get momentum in our game, you know, we’re going to put the best defences in the world, like South Africa’s, under pressure.

“I thought the continuity in our game was good, and as I say, we really bent the South African defence, and I thought our attack was excellent.

“Just maybe one pass off, finishing things on a number of occasions. But, you know, what we did put together was excellent.”