Ex-All Blacks: Boks a step ahead of everyone

Mils Muliaina, John Afoa and Aaron Cruden lauded the Springboks for being “comfortable being uncomfortable” after a dominant Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry win over New Zealand.

The former All Blacks on Sky Sport’s The Breakdown analysed the Boks’ 43-28 victory at Baltimore’s M&T Bank Stadium on Saturday that sent the Kiwis home with a 3-1 series defeat and five wins from eight matches on tour.

“Obviously, as All Blacks, you look at this sort of progression but you’ve just got to take a step back,” Muliaina said. “I admire what the South Africans are bringing at the moment. fish-roadgame.com

“They’re a step ahead of everyone. They’re comfortable being uncomfortable. What I mean by that is, when you put points on them, they don’t mind coming back and wrestling that arm-wrestle with you.

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“They’ve got so many weapons to do it. Is it their scrum? Is it their high ball? Is it their dominant carries? That’s what I’ve really enjoyed from the Springboks. They’ve got such a good team.

“We’re all disappointed about the result, but you’ve also got to look at who we’re playing against: the world champions,” the 2011 World Cup winner added. “For the last nine years, almost a decade, they have dominated in this space. We’re getting there, but you’ve got to take your hat off to the South Africans because they have been awesome.”

Cruden agreed, while acknowledging the improvement of the All Blacks under Dave Rennie in the face of a ruthless Bok outfit.

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“To be fair, I thought we were good. The uncomfortable fact is South Africa were just better. They were better in the sense that they absolutely pounced on any error that we made. They just transitioned really well,” the ex-flyhalf said.

“I love what Mils said about them being comfortable being uncomfortable. When they don’t have the momentum, they know, ‘Okay, we can wrestle this back. How are we going to do it?’ They go X, Y, Z, play their style, and that’s what it is.

“Yeah, it does hurt. But as I said earlier, we now know exactly what we’re chasing. We’ve got to put the plans in place to make sure we are closing that gap.”

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Afoa, though, was more frank about the Kiwis’ shortcomings in contrast to Rassie Erasmus’ charges.

“There’s a real leadership gap,” the 38-cap prop said. “If I look at that forward pack, they’re some young guys out there. There’s no one in there who’s the real leader … When it’s getting tough and it’s right at that moment, stands up.

“The Springboks, they’ve got maybe five of them with the Man of the Match awards and 100 Test caps in the backline. The others just follow them. I think we just lack a bit of that, but that will come with time.”

Photo: Michael Franken/Michael Franken Photography

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Stamping their authority over their lower-ranked opposition, the Proteas completed their tour of Namibia in spectacular fashion by coasting to a nine-wicket victory on Sunday, wrapping up a 3-0 series win in the third and final one-day international (ODI) in Windhoek.

Chasing 157 runs to win, opening batters Jordan Hermann and Connor Esterhuizen both built on their fine form by sharing a match winning 150-run partnership for the SA team.

Hermann, who had hit a record ton on debut in the series opener earlier in the week, made 77 off 59 deliveries on Sunday, while Esterhuizen, who had bashed his first international century in the second match of the series, compiled 68 at a run a ball.

While Hermann fell just before they reached their target, when he was bowled by seamer Waldo Smith with just seven runs required, the duo guided their team to 157/1 as the tourists triumphed with more than 28 overs to spare.

Namibia innings

Earlier, after winning the toss and opting to bat, Namibia struggled to build partnerships and gain any real momentum as they were well restricted by the Proteas bowlers.

Middle-order batter Zane Green top-scored for the hosts with 33 runs off 42 balls, and they were bowled out for 156 runs in the 37th over of their innings.

The dominant Proteas attack were led by captain Bjorn Fortuin, who returned ODI career best figures of 4/33, while 20-year-old paceman Kwena Maphaka took 2/18 and spinner Nqaba Peter grabbed 2/39.

Looking ahead

Next up, in what was set to be a busy summer for the national team, the Proteas were scheduled to face Australia in a three-match ODI series on home soil starting on 24 September.

Fast bowler Duan Jansen, who was one of the squad’s best performers on his debut tour in Namibia, was called up on Sunday to the squad for the series against Australia, with seamer Ottneil Baartman being ruled out due to a left hamstring injury.

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Mamelodi Sundowns head coach Miguel Cardoso criticised the condition of the Buffalo City Stadium pitch ater his side needed a stoppage time goal from Antonio Van Wyk to earn a 1-1 draw at Chippa United on Saturday.

Sundowns get stuck in the mud

The game was moved by Chippa from the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Gqeberha to Buffalo City. And the pitch was incredibly muddy, making passing football extremely difficult.

Sergio Kammies put Chippa in front in the 78th minute, but Van Wyk grabbed a point for Masandawana at the death in front of a good crowd in the Eastern Cape.

“The fans deserve something different,” Cardoso told SuperSport TV after the match.

“It is like you invite them home and there is nothing to eat.

“These were horrible, horrible conditions to play football. After the World Cup South Africa said they wanted to reduce their distance (in footballing terms) to Morocco.

“Not in these conditions. The distance will increase more and more.

“Morocco understood that good conditions to play increases the level of the players and allows the national team to come better.

“There is a hell of a job for Pitso Mosimane (Bafana’s new head coach) to do in the future if the best teams play on pitches where it is not proper to play football.”

‘In the end we were rewarded’

Cardoso was happy with the way his team fought right to the end against Chippa, the draw taking them to 20 points out of a possible 24 this season.

“We did our best to stay committed and to try and take the three points,” said Cardoso.

“In the end we were rewarded (with the equaliser) but it came very late.”