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Commenting in the New Zealand Herald after Saturday’s 21-11 Castle Rugby Championship triumph by the host nation over their fierce rivals in Dunedin, despite the Boks dominating in some areas, the former captain said: “(Steyn) is under extreme pressure ... they need to work on his decision-making and why he opts to kick all the time.
“The Boks often had good line speed with the ball in hand but their kicking game let them down hugely; they might have to look at changes.
“Under Heyneke Meyer’s coaching they seem to be opting for that old Bulls kick-and-chase game where you can only hopefully recover the ball – the first option is always to kick.”
Meanwhile the Otago Daily Times conceded: “Contrary to pre-match expectations the Springboks proved to be more than a challenge for the All Blacks and in the end probably should have walked away victors.
“They brought physicality to their game and got the better of the contact situations, ensuring they had more than enough ball and field position to win the game.
“But their own ineptitude was their demise as they employed a predictable, one-dimensional game-plan, looking to kick everything.
“Not only was this the wrong plan to be using, it was poorly executed ... the Boks simply ended up kicking the ball back to the All Blacks.
“They simply had no clue what to do on attack, and in the end that cost them.”
