Durban - Springbok defence coach John McFarland tried his best to remain positive in Tuesday’s Durban press conference as post-mortems of Saturday’s 37-25 Rugby Championship loss to Argentina continued.
The Boks were outplayed in most departments, but it was not all doom and gloom for McFarland who praised the side for the character they showed in the second half.
“What I was pleased to see is that we weren’t quite there in the first half - and that wasn’t good enough and is unacceptable - but certainly I thought the way we responded in the second half, when we actually won the second half, was credit to the guys,” said McFarland.
“There was a massive difference in attitude from first half to second. They did respond well to the harsh words that were said at half-time.”
The fact that the Boks take on Argentina again on Saturday, this time in Buenos Aires, is also positive news.
“It’s not a performance we’re proud of and normally in international rugby you have to wait months before you can put it right,” McFarland said.
“The great thing for us is that we get to go to Argentina on Saturday and we’ve got a chance to put it right.”
McFarland accepted responsibility for the defensive blips that crept into the Bok game, but was confident they would be ironed out before the Rugby World Cup.
“It’s the first time it’s happened to us in a long time so credit to their coaching staff,” he said.
“At the end of the day we’ll fix those areas. It’s better to happen now than in a World Cup.”
The Boks will announce their squad for Saturday’s Test on Wednesday.