Flanker Pieter-Steph du Toit believes the Springboks are on track to defend the Webb Ellis Cup, but admits error-prone performances like against Argentina “have to stop”.
The Boks were made to sweat for a 22-21 victory against Los Pumas in the Rugby Championship on Saturday, after taking a 15-9 lead into the break following a dominant first-half performance at Ellis Park.
The scrappy match was littered with stoppages as a result of handling errors and injuries, and the Argentinians came back firing in the second half, putting the world champions under heaps of pressure and requiring them to put in a spartan shift on defence to win.
Du Toit was one of the Boks’ leading defenders, and showed in their last three Tests the form that made him the best rugby player in the world in 2019.
Speaking post-match at the weekend, he told reporters: “We’re definitely on track. As a team, we made a step up from the previous game. The start against New Zealand wasn’t good and we let ourselves down. Here was also a mixed bag, but you need to take the positives with the negatives.
“We have to get better. The more mistakes we make now, the more we learn early enough. Of course, at some stage we have to stop making them and start scoring points and controlling games, but there’s enough time.
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“We’re focusing on the right stuff. I’d rather have us make these mistakes now. The World Cup is a different beast, especially this year’s tournament feels like a playoff from the outset. You have to win the right games.
“Someone told me the other day that you don’t have to win all the games, just the right ones. I hope he’s right!”
The former DHL Stormers star also highlighted how playing for the Toyota Verblitz in the Japanese Top League has improved his game.
“I really feel well conditioned since joining the national team in our pre-season of sorts,” he added. “There’s also much motivation to do so when you have world-class teammates alongside you. You want to be at your best.”
“Japan was good to me. In fact, I believe my conditioning has been complemented by both settings. I was in good shape over there and here I had to contend with the altitude of the Highveld again. It’s about 400m higher, so you’re definitely huffing and puffing a bit more, but we’ll get there.”
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