Louis de Villiers – Sport24

“Yes we were beaten with our own brand of rugby.”

Springbok lock Victor Matfield made this admission following his side’s defeat against the Wallabies on Saturday.

“They just executed it better than us. Their tactical kicking, in particular, was deadly.”

Like his team-mates, Matfield did not want to make any excuses for South Africa’s first loss in this year’s Tri-Nations.

“I don’t think we can complain about fatigue. There were, after all, a few efforts to run out of our 22-metre area!

“Our lineout is capable of functioning better against them, though we pinched three of four of their balls and spoiled two or three others. But these are mere aspects of the game.

“Right now rugby has more to do with the accuracy of your tactical kicking. The game is more about territorial advantage than it is about possession.”

Matfield was not totally surprised by the setback.

“It’s a huge turnaround after the previous week, but I still believe that in the Tri-Nations any of the teams can beat the other. Australia did the little things better than us and reaped the benefits.”

Centre Jaque Fourie put it down to the Boks’ mistakes.

“We made a lot of mistakes and conceded too many penalties. We have a lot of homework to do before going to New Zealand. Like every Monday, we have to work on our basic skills, but this time we have to do it better,” said Fourie.

Fourie said the Boks had their opportunities. “Jean (de Villiers) broke the line a few times, but our finishing was not good enough,” he said.

“We gave away possession cheaply and could not get going.”

He added that the Boks were intent on not finishing a successful Tri-Nations on a low.

“Our fate is in our hands. If we win in Hamilton, we win the trophy. I don’t want to rely on another team to help us win and none of the other guys want to either.”