Springbok hardman Thomas du Toit feels there’s no need for drastic measures ahead of Saturday’s second Test against Italy.
“I wouldn’t say that it was a wake-up call,” said Du Toit. “We set high standards for ourselves both in our preparation and on game day, and our objective is to get better week in and week out.
“Obviously, we could have been much better last week, and there were certain aspects of the game in which we had to look ourselves in the eye and say we were not good enough, but we know what we need to do this week against a very passionate Italian side, as we all saw last week.”
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There’s been a great deal of frustration among fans, the Bok coaching staff and players about the lack of quality in their 42-24 win in Pretoria last Saturday but, according to Du Toit, Italy was always going to be a tough battle regardless of the players in their squad.
“As we’ve been saying all of last week, we respect them and their patriotism for their country, as that’s something that resonates with us.
“There is a good alignment in their squad, and they are gelling well as a unit, so there are definitely areas we need to improve on this week, while we also have to build on the areas of our game which went fairly well,” he told the media in Gqeberha on Monday.
Springbok laws and discipline advisor Jaco Peyer explained the frustration in the Bok camp on Saturday night.
“The coaches always sit down and look at whether we planned well enough and if our execution was good enough, and we did that today (on Monday). We are facing a passionate and well-coached Italian team, and we need to be up for the game and work hard this week to deliver on our standards.”
Zoning on what frustrated them the most, Peyper said: “We are a proud team, and that’s why we were frustrated. There were too many individual errors, and if those stack up, it mounts up through the game.”
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Photo: Grant Pitcher/Gallo Images
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