Former Springbok scrumhalf Fourie du Preez says the Boks should believe that they can beat the All Blacks on a regular basis.
The Boks broke a nine-year losing streak to their traditional rivals when they claimed a 36-34 victory in Wellington last year.
However, they were on the wrong end of the scoreline when they let a 30-13 lead slip to lose a thrilling encounter 32-30 in the reverse fixture in Pretoria.
Speaking to The Citizen, Du Preez said there is no reason why the Boks should not be beating the All Blacks more regularly. The sides will meet in their opening match of the World Cup in September.
‘Over the past few years, we’ve had this thing in our rugby where we put the All Blacks on a pedestal and don’t believe we can beat them comfortably,’ Du Preez said. ‘Sure, we were a bit lucky to beat them in Wellington, but at least we were in a position to beat them and we managed to close that one out.
‘We’re honestly our own worst enemies when it comes to the All Blacks. In the [2015 World Cup] semi-final against them, we lost by two points [20-18] and should’ve won.
‘South Africa started at zero the following year and that explains why we were so bad in 2016 and 2017. Why would you start at zero again? Why not start from a two-point loss in your previous meeting, become 10% better and actually beat the All Blacks every year?’
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