Johannesburg - There have been many frank admissions in the aftermath of the Springboks' loss to Ireland but none more descriptive and precise of the mood in the South African camp than that of centre Damian de Allende who conceded that the South Africans are desperate going into the second Test at Ellis Park.
As harsh a word as desperate may sound with only a solitary Test behind the name of coach Allister Coetzee, there was an air of urgency at Springbok training on Tuesday.
Much of the urgency would have come from the heat the Springboks have copped after losing their first Test to Ireland on South African soil but at the same time the Boks will need to produce a Herculean effort if they are to save the three match-series in Johannesburg this weekend.
There must certainly be a desperation in the Springbok ranks to rectify all that went wrong in Cape Town notwithstanding some of the players' dented egos and the pride of a nation that believes their passion for the game is enough of a right to win every time their team plays at home.
Besides the inept performance delivered by the Springboks in their first hit out of the season which was short of imagination on attack, De Allende cited the need to be quicker in defence as one of the areas they will have to address if they are not to fall victim to the Irish again.”Ja, we are all desperate, we all need to make a statement after last week’s performance.
We are trying to put that behind us but we can also use it as motivation. We are trying to improve on our defence as a team and we are trying to increase on our line speed as we believe that is the new key to defence to try and take away that space,” said De Allende.
Another area of concern emanating from the post mortem of the first Test would have been the Springboks' inability to exploit the gaping spaces on attack as they ran laterally and often tried to force matters with ball in hand.
De Allende conceded that he was one of the culprits in squeezing shut the spaces but has promised to atone for his ways.”I just lacked confidence and this week has been a bit better for me.
As the weeks get on I’m getting more confident and comfortable.”I think we have to fix a lot, especially execution in the wide channels. I think we let a lot of balls go there. We created a lot of space on the inside but we forced the ball on the outside too early.
If we do see the space and take it on the outside it is just that execution of keeping the ball in the wide channel and not losing it stupidly and giving them the ball back.
“He may only have 14 Test caps to his name but De Allende is ready to stand up and lead from the front and was brutally honest about his role as one of the leaders of a rather inexperienced backline as the Springboks go in search of that maiden win under Coetzee.
By all accounts De Allende seems set to continue his fledgling midfield partnership with Lionel Mapoe and while there will be an air of desperation to create the spaces for Mapoe to thrive, De Allende will also have to consider bringing into play his abrasive forwards in order to generate momentum.
“I need to look up and see if there is space in front of me whether to move that ball earlier, come back on the switch or take the space in front of me. I also have to decide to give our outside backs better space on the outside and to get our forwards into the game more often.”
The Star