Mallett: We must improve
Springboks vow to turn their game around
Posted: Monday July 20, 1998 09:19 AM
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Henry Honiball of the Springboks runs down Australia's Stephen Larkham (David Rogers/Allsport) |
WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) -- South Africa's rugby union team arrived in New Zealand on Monday promising a better performance against the All Blacks than it produced to beat Australia last Saturday. Springbok coach Nick Mallett said his side's 14-13 win in Perth - its 11th in a row - was one of the worst in his tenure as coach. He said a large improvement would be needed to win the third match in this year's Tri-Nations series at Athletic Park in Wellington on Saturday. "Saturday was one of those games we would have really regretted if we hadn't have won," Mallett said. "New Zealand is the benchmark from our point of view. "Both us and Australia played poorly, and if either of us played like that we'd lose by 20 points against the All Blacks." The win away from home was crucial for South Africa, which will almost certainly deprive New Zealand of its third Tri-Nations crown if it can win Saturday. The Australian test was punctuated by errors and misdirected kicking, although the South Africans deserved to win, courtesy of a slight forward edge and better opportunity-taking. Mallett suggested the lack of real physical contact in the test had left his side relatively injury-free. The only concern was hooker James Dalton (elbow injury), but that was expected to clear up by Wednesday. Both teams will hold training sessions Tuesday, with South Africa to name its test team later in the day.
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