Nick Mallett says Aphelele Fassi and Canan Moodie were “shown up” during the Springboks’ win against the Wallabies in Cape Town.
The Boks bounced back from their shock loss at Ellis Park with a much-improved performance in the Mother City, but the two backline players came under scrutiny from the former Bok coach.
“I don’t think Fassi had a great game, and I also don’t think Canan Moodie had his best game on Saturday,” Mallett said on Talking Boks. “The two of them, I think had they played better, we would have been more comfortable. But they were both under a bit of pressure in that game.”
Mallett criticised South Africa’s defence in the build-up to Corey Toole’s opening try for the Wallabies.
“I wasn’t sure what our positioning was when Nic White put the little grubber through. Why was there not a fullback? He might have been in position out wide, but the moment they get the penalty, your fullback’s got to get behind the set piece as quickly as possible. And we didn’t do it.”
He also pointed out other costly mistakes.
“Canan Moodie missed a tackle last weekend. He had a couple of difficulties under the high ball. Fassi gave the yellow card away.
“They just need to sharpen up. Those backline players, unfortunately, get shown up when you make errors.”
ALSO: Boks land in Auckland ready to storm Eden Park
Mallett said the younger backs must take lessons from the Boks’ experienced stars.
“The mark of a really good backline player is an error-free game. It’s not about how many brilliant moves you do.
“It’s being like Cheslin Kolbe – how many mistakes do you see Kolbe make? Just so few. Damian de Allende, very few. Handré Pollard, very few.”
Photo: Grant Pitcher/Gallo Images
The post Mallett: Fassi, Moodie must sharpen up appeared first on SA Rugby magazine.