Springboks to take positives out of All Blacks mauling

The Springboks will be desperately trying to take positives out of a 35-20 mauling by the All Blacks in the Rugby Championship at the Mount Smart Stadium in Auckland on Saturday.

It was a very poor start to the match that saw the Boks fall 17-0 down after just 16 minutes and trail 20-3 at halftime, before an improved second half saw them battle back into the game, only for the All Blacks to pull away late.

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Springbok centre Lukhanyo Am gave full credit to the All Blacks for the way they put the Boks under pressure and punished their mistakes, while saying they would take the lessons learnt out of the match.

“We must give credit to the All Blacks. We knew if we wanted to stand a chance we had to control the chaos and I think we didn’t do that. They capitalised on our errors so credit to them,” said Am.

“We are definitely evolving. I think with the experience that we have we are building pretty well. There will be positives to take out of this game and work-ons that we need to improve on.”

Am also had a word for grieving Bok stand-in captain Eben Etzebeth who lost his father earlier in the week: “He is extremely influential in the team. So for us as a team and family all we could do was support him as much as we could.”

Physical Boks

All Blacks skipper Sam Cane was thrilled with the performance of his charges, especially coming up against a very physical Bok team, while he also complimented a packed crowd at the Mount Smart Stadium.

“We got what we expected. It’s always physical, it’s always a really good Test match and one of the ones you really look forward too. So it was a good Test match tonight,” said Cane,

“We really look forward to these Test matches. There is so much history between the two teams. They are the reigning World Cup champions and we knew it would be a good test of where we are as a team.

“So we are pleased to see improvement from last week (against Argentina). But we know we still have a bit to go to get where we want to get to.

“It’s the first time any of us have played at Mount Smart but what a crowd. It felt like Eden Park running out here. So thanks for coming out everyone, it was an awesome night.”