Where can the Springboks improve to be competitive against NZ at Newlands?

As is so often the case in elite sport, matches can hinge on tiny margins and there’s no better way to illustrate this than during two pivotal incidents in Saturday’s encounter against Australia. Bok scrumhalf Ross Cronje, denied Tevita Kuridrani a certain try in the last quarter of the match with a last-gasp tackle, while Elton Jantjies, missed a great chance to win the match for the home side in minute 80 of 80 as his last-gasp penalty skewed agonisingly wide.

Where can the Boks improve ahead of Saturday to restore some pride and give the fans something to cheer about at Newlands?

Set pieces

Traditionally this is a strength, but South Africa have been found severely wanting at scrum time this series. Tendai Mtawarira has continued to be a pillar of strength as the green and gold’s go-to loosehead but tighthead Ruan Dreyer, wasn’t convincing in Bloemfontein and he is set to be replaced by Wilco Louw on his home turf. When The Boks pack down at the scrum and contest at lineouts, they’ll have to be maximise these opportunities as they concede to New Zealand’s creative and attacking superiority.

Finishing needs to be more clinical

The Boks played the more enterprising rugby on Saturday. The home team were the better unit in almost every attacking department (clean breaks, carries and defenders beaten) but the scoreline didn’t reflect that. It’s unlikely that Allister Coetzee’s side will get as many opportunities on Saturday as was afforded to them by the Wallabies on the weekend, and they MUST turn pressure into points, especially when they exert territorial dominance through a kicking game. Attacking the All Blacks from deep, as they did against Australia, will be a foolish strategy.

Coetzee must stick with Leyds

The introduction of Stormers utility man Dillyn Leyds, from the start was one of the bright points for the Boks on the weekend. Leyds didn’t miss a tackle and was responsible for more carries (14) than any other player in a green and gold jersey. Leyds said that this was a ‘dream come true’ to start for the Boks, and if selected on his own stomping ground against the world’s best, he’ll want that to continue.

More defensive astuteness

This is a rugby truism, but big tackles win big matches. The Springboks were simply not good enough against New Zealand in Albany and the horribly one-sided scoreline made that obvious; a vast improvement was made this past weekend in Bloem as The Boks missed only 12 of 94 tackles. Even so, there were still moments of defensive uncertainty when Bernard Foley and Israel Folau went waltzing Matilda through the Springbok rearguard. For the Newlands test to be a competitive affair, this simply can’t happen and lessons from Albany must be learned.

The Boks have now drawn twice to Australia in the pair’s last two meetings. What followed the last stalemate was a 57-0 drubbing at the hands of New Zealand; they’ll be hoping that history doesn’t repeat itself in Cape Town on Saturday.