Beware of the wounded Springbok

After a disappointing opening to the Greatest Rivalry series, I expect the Springboks to regroup, trust the process and beat the All Blacks in Cape Town.

Tendai “Beast” Mtawarira played 117 Tests for the Springboks, including 20 against the All Blacks. He was part of two Rugby Championship-winning teams and won the 2019 Rugby World Cup.

It was a tough start to the tour for the Springboks, but a bloody nose can often be the catalyst for a big comeback.

I remember being in a very similar situation in 2019 with many of the teammates who are still part of this current squad. We lost 23-13 to New Zealand in our opening pool match of the Rugby World Cup, making a few defensive errors that ultimately cost us the game.

We studied the game, analysed where we went wrong and, importantly, everyone was quick to put their hand up and take ownership of their mistakes.

It was not emotional, it was factual. We acknowledged mistakes and planned to correct them.

By the Monday following the defeat, ahead of our next game against Namibia, the loss was behind us.

Our focus was on the next step: fixing what went wrong and trusting the process.

That is exactly what the Boks need to do now. Go back to the drawing board. Identify what was lacking. Own the mistakes. Fix them. Then move forward. As Rassie Erasmus said – they did a lot of things well and were in the game for an hour.

I have no doubt the boys will be fired up for this contest, with the opportunity to level the series, but they must be more accurate.

On the other side, the All Blacks will be full of belief and rightly motivated to build on what they achieved in the first Test.

Dave Rennie’s measured acknowledgement of his team’s performance tells me they know the Boks will be better in the second Test, so they will have to improve, too.

They will be looking to build on the confidence and momentum they created at Ellis Park and carry that into the DHL Stadium.

Cape Town can also feel like a home game for the All Blacks, given the incredible support they receive from the local crowd. That could certainly play in their favour.