“We sort of feel like we’ve missed the opportunities, and we just need to finish better in all honesty,” Ryan said.
“And that’s different areas of our game. It’s not one thing in particular, but it’s different parts of our own areas that we need to be honest about.
“But, you know, like full credit to the South Africans, the world champions, and they’re right on top of their game, and it’s where we want to get to.”
The team has “had a hard look at themselves” over the break week and have come away with mixed feelings after suffering back-to-back defeats.
One the one hand, they are proud of their efforts in specific areas but the lingering disappointment of the end result hangs over the team.
“I think optimistic is a great word, to be honest. I think that, you know, we really are we,” Ryan said.
“We are excited by how hard we pushed South Africa, but we’re not satisfied by not getting across the line.
“But I don’t know, in a weird way, you sort of, when you don’t get the victories, you actually naturally look harder at yourselves.
“And that’s what we’ve done, we’ve looked really hard at ourselves in our own areas. We’ve had to, you know, like, let’s not sugarcoat it.
“We’ve just lost a couple of Tests in a row, so we have done that and but we are optimistic about where we’re heading.”
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Kwagga Smith wants Springboks to be flawless at the breakdown to counter Los Pumas’ speedsters
Ball security is going to be key for the Springboks when they take on Argentina’s Los Pumas in what could be a Rugby Championship decider on Saturday night (11pm kickoff SA time).
The Springboks’ attacking breakdown was found wanting in their two home Test matches against the All Blacks, as well as the two-Test series against Ireland.
The New Zealanders won a plethora of breakdown penalties in the second Test in Cape Town, isolating the Bok’s ball carriers before trying to steal the ball on the ground. This robbed the Springboks of attacking momentum, which also meant that they needed to make more tackles.
The All Blacks, however, couldn’t quite take advantage of this and ended up imploding again in the last quarter as the Springboks’ Bomb Squad came on to do what they do best.
However, the Springboks can’t afford to be sloppy and inaccurate at the breakdown against Argentina, as they will punish them from turnover ball, as they showed on their win over the All Blacks in Wellington and their recent 67-27 demolition of the Wallabies at home.
“After playing the All Blacks twice we have quite a few learnings. Defensively we wanted to stop momentum better after the first Test match,” the Springboks’ super sub Kwagga Smith told the media from Argentina.
“Personally, for me in the second Test match, we lost a lot of ball at the breakdown. New Zealand got a lot of turnovers and broke our momentum on attack.
“We know Argentina have a few good fetchers, so it’s definitely going to be a big battle at the breakdown this coming weekend.”
Los Pumas have a few dangerous runners at the back division, players who feast of turnover ball and space.
Argentina scored four tries in the last 10 minutes against an Australian side that wilted in the face of their pressure and physically at the breakdown and contact areas.
“There are a lot of guys who come from the Sevens, so they have a lot of X-factor in the backline. Combine that with the experience in the pack to get that physical dominance, and they are a tough side to beat,” said Smith.
“We must make sure that when there is something loose or a loose ball on the ground that we clean it up. We need to play as a team, because if you fall into the trap and play as an individual, you can be in big trouble against them.”
The Springboks go into the match with an eight-point lead over Argentina in the Rugby Championship, and will clinch the title with a win at the Estadio Único Madre de Ciudades in Santiago del Estero.
A bonus-point win for Argentina, with the Boks leaving with nothing, will set up a nervous decider for the South Africans in Nelspruit the following weekend.
“For us a team, it’s a huge opportunity to win the Rugby Championship. But we can’t look too far ahead, it’s going to be a really tough game this weekend … Argentina are also in the running to win it for the first time,” said Smith.
“They will be desperate, wanting to get five points here in Argentina to make it a final next week in Nelspruit. We will work hard this week to physically match them.”
