Question: Wayne, what’s your assessment of that?
Wayne Pivac: Yeah I’m a little frustrated with the scoreline at the end, disappointed with that. But, as we said on the pitch afterwards, I’m definitely not disappointed with the effort that has gone in over the last six weeks.
We came here with a goal, to try to win the series and we were serious about that. It wasn’t just talk. The players worked really well together, they came together well and we’ll take a lot of positives out of that. I’m obviously pleased to get the history last week.
But this week, there were certainly moments where the pressure that South Africa applied paid dividends for them. I’m referring to the exit charge down, putting ourselves under pressure in our own 22.
Then there were a couple of attacking situations when it was 17-14 in the last quarter of the game. There was a not straight and an overthrow. We’ll learn from that.
In all, I’m pleased with the tour itself but disappointed with the scoreline.
Q: There was a lot of reshuffling with Gareth Anscombe and Taulupe Faletau pulling out late?
WP: You never like to lose players at the end of the week but we lost Gareth to a fitness test in the latter part of the week and Taulupe just felt his side. It was an injury that he picked up in the first Test and he just gutsed it out for an 80 minute display in the second Test.
But it just took its toll on him in the warm-up. He did the right thing and pulled out. Full credit to Josh Navidi, who was on the bench one minute and then starting, literally minutes before going out for the anthem.
I thought he did very well, reacted well. As did Taine Basham coming off the bench.
Q: Do you think this tour has been a success?
WP: Yes I do. If you look at the first Test, there is probably one or two moments we look back on and think ‘if only’. The Louis Rees-Zammit yellow card.
It’s in the history books. We certainly know we played very well on that occasion. A little bit of discipline on our own behalf let us down but we were right in the game.
In the second Test, coming out to South Africa, probably not too many people would have predicted the first two weeks.
For us, it was a big step in the right direction. When we get together again in the autumn series we’ll be less than 12 months out from the Rugby World Cup.
This tour itself has been fantastic, it’s the first time we’ve toured together because of Covid. It’s been really great and the whole group – management and players – has pulled together really well.
We’re very pleased that the positives outweigh the negatives.
Q: You faced a lot of adversity with all the chaos created by the injuries – what does it say about the group that it wasn’t a blow out?
WP: I think it just shows the environment that has been created. The players enjoy coming to work, enjoy rolling their sleeves up and enjoy each other’s company.
That’s important because ultimately you go through some dark patches in Test matches and you’ve only got the bloke beside you to help you out. The boys have done that time and time again on this tour.
It’s a disappointment, obviously, but overall we’ll have a couple of beers tonight, reflect and then it’ll be positive thoughts heading into the autumn.
Q: Eben Etzebeth earned his 100th cap tonight – where does he rank in the world game?
WP: He’s a wonderful player, a good leader. I think from the young man who started his Test career to where he is now... he’s added an immense amount of discipline to his game. He’s a major part of the Springbok team.
When we’re looking at the opposition, his name came up quite a bit. It’s a sign of the respect that our team has for him. He’s a guy who has played 100 Test matches, which is no mean feat in a country like South Africa, where you have a lot of talent.
I think he’s had a superb series, he’s a wonderful player, world class, and we wish him all the best for the rest of his career which I know will be a long one.
Q: What’s the plan going forward for Alun Wyn Jones? Is he in your plans for the World Cup?
WP: Yeah I think he answered that tonight with his performance. I think he was frustrated with the first two Tests, picking up yellow cards – one where it was a team warning, so I think he’s a bit unlucky there. The second yellow could go either way on a different day.
He was frustrated but he came out tonight, got on early, and I thought he had a really good game.
He’s keen to continue while he’s deemed to be good enough. We clearly deem him good enough.
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