Now that the dew has settled on the Springboks’ iffy performance against Italy, the players and coaching staff have a different perspective on what panned out in the 42-14 win at Loftus Versfeld, and it is hardly doom and gloom.
Those were the wise words of squad newcomer Thomas du Toit, who added that not enough credit has been given to a plucky Italian side that came hard at the Boks and slickly executed a well-constructed plan.
Du Toit is fresh from a dream season in England in which he won three trophies with all-conquering Bath, while reaching new heights in his personal game, including scoring 10 tries, a record in the Premiership for a prop.
“I would not say we have had a wake-up call,” Du Toit said.
“It is more that we set high standards for ourselves in terms of preparation, training, and the game itself. We try to lift each other up week in week out to get better.
“So, we compare ourselves to ourselves,” the 30-year-old said.
“When we review a game, we look at whether we were better than the week before. In certain aspects, we have to look at ourselves in the mirror and say we weren’t better (than the Barbarians game).”
Du Toit said that the Monday review showed that the Boks had not lacked intensity.
“It was not a case of our mindset being wrong. We know what needs to be done, and we try to do it. Credit to the Italians, they are a proud nation and play very good rugby. They were very good on the weekend.
“They are a young team with a lot of energy, and they are well-coached. They don’t mess around in their own half, and from our perspective, we need to ensure that we don’t allow them to get into our 22 and make their presence felt there.
“As we said repeatedly 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.”
Du Toit said that the Monday review gave the team a fresh reality
“Straight after the game, emotions can be high, and you don’t necessarily see the whole picture. Our coaches do a great job in reviewing the game (on the Sunday), then when we meet on a Monday, we have a true picture of what happened in the game. Your perception can change from Saturday night to Monday.
“The coaches keep the emotion out of it until we have decent clarity on it. Then we work on fixing the mistakes. We take it on the chin as a team, not as individual players. We fix the problem as a unit.
“What went wrong is a difficult question,” Du Toit continued. “I will bring it back to our standards. The frustration lies within ourselves in that we wanted to be better, and we don’t see that.”
Du Toit is set for a run in the front row, and it remains to be seen whether it will be at loosehead or tighthead, as he is comfortable in both positions.”
“I was fortunate that (Bath) coach Johan van Graan gave me plenty of opportunities in both positions, so it doesn’t matter where I play.
“The only difference between the positions is whether you play on the left or right-hand side of the scrum and where you stand in the lineouts. It doesn’t have an impact when one plays with the ball in hand or the game in general.”
“It is like riding a bike — I just need a week of training in one of the positions, and by game time, it feels natural to me. I feel it is an extra arrow in my quiver I can take out when the team needs it.”
