Springboks must sharpen up after All Blacks defeat, says Jesse Kriel

Springboks centre Jesse Kriel says South Africa will use their 33-16 defeat by the All Blacks as motivation to produce a stronger performance in the second match of the Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry Series next weekend.

New Zealand secured victory in the opening Test at Ellis Park in Johannesburg on Saturday night, but Kriel said South Africa would accept the result, review their performance and work hard during the week before the teams meet again.

The Springboks will have Sunday off to recover from a physically demanding contest before returning to training on Monday. The second encounter will take place at DHL Stadium in Cape Town next Saturday.

“We’ll obviously watch the game again and work through it,” Kriel told the media afterwards.

“We have another whole week to prepare, and we’ll do what we need to do. We’re a team that finds solutions, and we’ll be up for it next week.”

Kriel, who won his 91st Test cap, echoed the assessment of Springboks head coach Rassie Erasmus that South Africa had not been clinical enough when opportunities arose.

“In Test match rugby, if you don’t convert and take your opportunities and other teams do, the scoreboard is normally not in your favour and we clearly had to be more clinical,” said Kriel.

“The All Blacks were when they got their chances, and at the highest level between the two best teams in the world, that’s what happens.

“There are very small margins for error in a Test match of this magnitude and on an occasion like this, so we’ll have to be better there, and we are looking forward to the challenge next week.”

New Zealand took advantage of its chances while South Africa were unable to turn sufficient pressure into points. Kriel said the narrow margins between the two leading international sides had been exposed during the opening match.

The Springboks were also required to make several positional adjustments during the game after a series of incidents forced changes to their original structure. Kriel moved to the wing, but said the team had prepared for the possibility of having to adapt.

“In big games like this you have to be able to adapt,” he said.

“It doesn’t normally happen a lot, but when it does, I think we reacted pretty well. I just don’t think we were as accurate as we wanted to be on the night, and New Zealand put us under a lot of pressure.”

South Africa will remain in Johannesburg until Wednesday before travelling to Cape Town on Thursday for the second meeting with the All Blacks.

The teams will then face one another for a third time at FNB Stadium near Soweto. The Springboks will complete their involvement in the competition with a final match in Baltimore after travelling to the USA.