Publications
Partners
Bloemfontein - Springbok hooker Malcolm Marx has called for the Boks to show more maturity when they get into points scoring positions.
CLICK: To support South Africa's Rugby World Cup 2023 bid
Saturday's 27-27 draw against Australia in Bloemfotein saw the Boks adopt a ball-in-hand, almost all out attack approach in looking to drown the demons of a 57-0 loss to the All Blacks in Albany two weekends before.
The result was far more positive from a South African point of view and the Boks did have three tries to show for their efforts.
But there were still far too many moments where execution at critical times was lacking, with decision-making in key moments standing out as problematic.
Marx, who put in another big performance for the Boks in what his just his 10th Test cap, said the overall performance was encouraging, but he highlighted a lack of composure from his team-mates.
"We had opportunities in the right areas, I think we just didn't execute," he said after the match.
"All the guys were excited and I think just being more mature in those situations, holding the ball instead of trying to offload, just building a couple more phases to put pressure on them would have helped.
"We're building and we're much happier about our performance this week than we were two weeks ago."
There was also significant improvement in the lineouts on Saturday, compared to the Australasian tour where the Boks lost nine throws off their own ball over the Tests against Australia in Perth and the All Blacks in Albany.
"In the lineouts two weeks ago was tough on me and I take full responsibility for that, but we've put it behind us and we moved on. It's dead and buried," Marx said.
The Boks will next take on the All Blacks in Cape Town this Saturday.
