Kriel urges Springboks to seize remaining chances after All Blacks defeat

South Africa centre Jesse Kriel says the Springboks have three opportunities to recover from their 33-16 defeat by New Zealand and revive their Greatest Rivalry Series campaign.

The All Blacks took a 1-0 lead in the four-match series with victory at Ellis Park on Saturday, leaving the Springboks needing an immediate response in the matches ahead.

Kriel believes South Africa can still change the direction of the contest, despite admitting they failed to make the most of several scoring opportunities in the opening Test.

“The great thing about this game and this series is that there are three more chances,” Kriel told the media after the match.

“We’ve been in situations like this before.

“We know we weren’t as accurate as we wanted to be. We also know that New Zealand played unbelievably well.

“They were well prepared and came here with a great plan.”

The result means South Africa are effectively facing a play-off scenario, a situation Kriel compared with the pressure of knockout rugby at a World Cup.

“We knew coming into this that it would kind of feel like knockout rugby. You could look at it like that,” said Kriel.

“We just know that we’ve got three more chances to perform the way we want to and play like the team we know we can be.”

The Springboks’ failure to convert their opportunities was a significant factor in the defeat. While South Africa created openings, New Zealand were more clinical when their chances arrived and built a decisive advantage on the scoreboard.

Kriel accepted that the Springboks must improve their accuracy if they are to turn the series around.

“It’s part of the game, and we need to be a bit more accurate,” Kriel acknowledged.

“In Test match rugby, if you don’t convert and you don’t take your opportunities and other teams do, the scoreboard is normally not in your favour.

“The All Blacks were clinical when they got their chances. We’ll have to be better, and we’re looking forward to the challenge.”

New Zealand’s victory gave them the early advantage in a four-match series that South Africa now have little margin for error in. The Springboks must use one of their remaining three matches to level the contest, while Kriel says the squad remain confident they can produce the performance they expect from themselves.

The defeat at Ellis Park was South Africa’s first setback in the series, but Kriel’s message was that the outcome has not settled the rivalry. Instead, he views the remaining fixtures as further chances for the Springboks to correct their shortcomings, improve their execution and show the qualities they believe they possess.