Mallett not surprised by Bok result

Cape Town - Former Springbok coach Nick Mallett was not surprised by the All Blacks’ comfortable victory over the Springboks in Christchurch on Saturday.

New Zealand scored six tries in a 41-13 humbling of South Africa.

The lopsided 28-point margin of victory tied the third biggest in the history of Tests between the two nations.

Mallett commented on the game in the SuperSport studio.

Before the match, Mallett predicted a 15-point victory for the home side.

Afterwards, he said: “It wasn’t a result that was a surprise, quite frankly, given the development of our team and how well New Zealand are playing and the relative skills difference between their players and ours. It would have been a surprise if the Boks had managed to hold the All Blacks to 10 points.

“I think any team playing against the All Blacks struggles to sustain a challenge over 80 minutes. The little things in the second half didn’t unfortunately go right for the Boks. They kicked the ball out on the full at the start, three lineouts went astray. When playing the All Blacks, you cannot lose your set piece, because turnover opportunity - a lost lineout, poor kick or turnover - is a try-scoring opportunity for them.”

The All Blacks made the Springbok defence look amateur at times with the ease they scored tries.

“Let’s also give credit to the All Blacks. They are coached to have a look at the defensive structure and then try to attack the weakness in that. And they take very good decisions. If the initial defender shifts, they’ll go into that gap to keep momentum and if the space is out wide, the ball goes wide. So, while we must improve our defence, let’s credit the All Blacks for often making the right decisions.”