Springboks Captain Siya Kolisi has warned his teammates that discipline must be improved if they are to win a second game in 2018’s Rugby Championship at the expense of Argentina in Mendoza on Saturday.
Handling errors and botched line outs stopped the Springboks securing a more emphatic win over the Pumas in Durban on Saturday, although a 34-21 triumph ensured a bonus point at the start of the four-nation southern hemisphere competition.
The Boks, who flew to Argentina on Monday, have over the years cut down on the number of unnecessary penalties conceded, but Saturday’s game was littered with basic errors, which alarmed Coach Rassie Erasmus and his captain.
“The thing that we players were not happy with and which we talked about after the game was our discipline,” said Kolisi.
“It put us on the back foot and also our execution was poor. We had a couple of opportunities in their 22-metre area but didn’t take them.”
South Africa elected on several occasions to forego penalties at the posts and kick to touch to ensure lineouts near the Argentine goalline as they went in search of tries.
But despite putting the ball into the lineout, they managed to botch five chances just metres from the try line.
“It was frustrating creating the pressure in their 22 and then losing the ball. But the intensity was a positive thing,” added Kolisi.
He leads a 28-man squad which will stay in Buenos Aires this week and on Friday travel to Mendoza for Saturday’s match.
The Springboks expect a backlash from the hosts with Erasmus predicting a tough physical clash where mistakes could prove costly.
After the two matches with Argentina, South Africa play in Australia and New Zealand in September before hosting the Wallabies and All Blacks in the last two rounds of the competition.
