For the first time in 15 years, the All Blacks have lost The Freedom Cup after falling to arch-rivals the Springboks 18-12. Coach Scott Robertson and captain Scott Barrett were both supremely disappointed when they fronted the press post-match, but there were some positives.
Before the coach and captain walked into the room, there were a couple of conversations amongst reporters about New Zealand’s Wallace Sititi. Sititi celebrated his 22nd birthday with a strong individual performance at Cape Town’s DHL Stadium.
Earlier in the week, coach Robertson had revealed a bit of a selection surprise by naming the youngster at blindside flanker. Sititi had only started in that position twice before in his professional career, and both were with North Harbour in New Zealand’s NPC.
Sititi was used as a No. 8 by the Chiefs in Super Rugby Pacific, and the loose forward emerged as one of the nation’s brightest rugby prospects. But the step up to Test level was always going to be tough, especially in away Test to the world champions in a new position.
Playing against a backrow of Siya Kolisi, Pieter-Steph du Toit and Jasper Wiese, Sititi embraced the challenge on Saturday and ended up putting in a solid shift. With 16 carries for 30 metres, and 10 tackles in defence, there was a lot to like about Sititi’s first Test start.
“He can play, can’t he? I’m really pleased for him because he’s an exceptional young man. If you ever get to know him, he’s a lovely kid and gets on that field and he can turn it on,” coach Robertson told reporters after the six-point defeat.
“He’s got a great skill set. He’s mentally tough, he’s physically tough. It’s hard to believe he’s so young and performs like that.
“We’re really pleased for (him), he took it.”
When Sititi was replaced in the 59th minute, the All Blacks had just reduced their deficit to a single point. Flyhalf Damian McKenzie converted a penalty which made things very interesting, with the scoreboard reading 13-12 in the Springboks’ favour.
But, as it was pointed out to Robertson in Johannesburg last weekend, the All Blacks’ Achilles heel has been their inability to score points in the last 20 minutes in all of their Rugby Championship fixtures to date.
It was the same story in Cape Town with the All Blacks failing to add any points to their score – but that’s not to say they didn’t have chances. McKenzie had another couple of attempts at goal, including one inside the last 10 minutes, but they missed the mark.
South Africa had gone down to 14 men at one stage with Willie le Roux shown a yellow card, but the New Zealanders failed to capitalise. Instead, the Boks had the last laugh with dual Rugby World Cup-winning hooker Malcolm Marx scoring the final try in the 73rd minute.
“There’s always positives in everything,” Robertson explained.
“The physicality, we created a lot. We’re one moment away and we would’ve been first up here to the press conference, that’s the margins for it.
“There’s so much good in there (but) Test matches are about finishing and finishing on top and finding a way to do it and that’s our next step is to find a way and win the line in front of us.
“That’s our focus. We’ve got to learn quick.”
