Boks beaten at the breakdown

2008-07-20 16:01

Johannesburg - Springbok coach Peter de Villiers has hit out at the inconsistency of referee Bryce Lawrence's interpretations, blaming them for his side's struggle at breakdown-time and the poor defence after their 16-9 loss against Australia in Perth on Saturday.

However, this was a contradiction of his interview directly after the match when he said that the Boks had no excuses and had been beaten by a better team.

Directly after the match de Villiers said that "we can look for a lot of excuses if we want to, but the bottom line is they outplayed us today and they were better at the breakdown."

However, later on he was quoted on the SuperSport website where he criticised Lawrence for inconsistency at the breakdown.

The Springbok coach, according to the website, said the problems at the breakdown were the main reason for the missed tackle count of 33 - the most involving a South African team for some time. "It came back to the play on the ground. We'd be expecting to win the ball back and it's very difficult to switch your mind from positive to negative and organise yourself for tackling," he is quoted as saying.

He also said that if the laws are applied properly there won't be any flopping on the ball or putting the ball under the locks' feet in the scrums, and said it was a big frustration for the Boks.

However, De Villiers did admit that the Boks didn't convert the opportunities they had.

The Bok coach said the Wallabies "could study us and see how we played against New Zealand. Now that we've got some footage of them, I think the next game we will be on the same level," he said directly after the match.

Springbok captain Victor Matfield admitted that his side had lost the match at the breakdown. "We lost too many balls there and without the ball you cannot play. They also put us under pressure on defence.

"We were not happy with very much from this performance. We have to look at the video and see where we can improve," Matfield added.

- SAPA