Tighthead prop Springbok Wilco Louw highly praised the team's work in the scrums during the first match, but insists that the team needs to convert this superiority into more points in the second game in Cape Town.
The Greatest Rugby Rivalry
The main focus for the Springboks before the second match of the Greatest Rugby Rivalry will be on how to utilize their scrum dominance and convert these opportunities into points. Although the world champions achieved impressive victories in the initial scrums against the All Blacks at Ellis Park stadium, they failed to use this position to assert their superiority over their opponents. Due to missed opportunities and insufficient discipline, the team lost 33-16 in Johannesburg.
Now they have a chance in Cape Town on Saturday to maintain their hopes of winning this rivalry. A home win will allow them to level the score, while a triumph by the New Zealand team guarantees the visitors that they cannot lose this historic series.
Wilco Louw, a key scrum disruptor for the Springboks, expressed disappointment with the first defeat but noted the good play from the New Zealand team. He stated: 'We and the All Blacks have a good scrum culture, and we are proud of it; we had successes, and they had successes.'
He continued, emphasizing the team nature of the work: 'However, our scrum is not just one person, it is the whole team. Therefore, I want to thank our forwards and their forwards; we really fought well in the scrums. I also thank Jan-Hendrik (Vessel) and Zachary (Porten) and the entire team that fought in the scrum with seven players when we had 13 players left.' He added that playing with two fewer players against a team like the All Blacks, which uses the full width of the field, is 'not ideal.'
According to Louw, the team will learn from the lessons of the first match and try to improve certain aspects before the second confrontation in the Mother City. They intend to be more composed and take advantage of these opportunities, especially during the scrums. He reminded that this is a four-match series, and they have another chance this week.