The China Mail - Springboks must not get carried away after Australia rout - coach

The players will join 13 others, who flew across 10 time zones last Tuesday to acclimatise early for a top-of-the-table clash with the All Blacks this Saturday.

Stick, a candidate to replace Leinster-bound Jacques Nienaber as head coach after the 2023 Rugby World Cup in France, said finishing was an area needing improvement.

"There was a point in the game where we had a lot of entries into the Australian 22 and did not convert them into points," noted the former sevens star.

"We also made a couple of line breaks and I think that is an area where we need to keep on improving.

"When we play New Zealand and Argentina, we are not going to get 10 scoring opportunities -- we are going to get only four or five and we need to convert them into points.

"I am happy at the manner in which we executed our game plan and, once again, if it was not for the way we defended early in the game, those opportunities would not have come later.

“The most important thing for the Springboks is to keep improving as a team. It is a World Cup year and everyone is focusing on that tournament.

- 'Freedom to exploit' -

"We want to make sure we keep building and to have a start like this -- even though there is a lot of room for improvement -- is something we can build on.

"We are really happy with the manner in which we won this game because Australia were very physical. Credit to our boys for the way they played throughout the 80 minutes."

Stick said the fact that South Africa adopted a ball-in-hand approach did not mark a tactical change for a team often criticised for being over reliant on kicking.

"As I and the other coaches have said many times, if we create opportunities the guys have the freedom to exploit them."

Captain and No. 8 Duane Vermeulen, standing in for the injured Siya Kolisi, said the backing of the 50,000 crowd at Loftus Versfeld was a huge factor in the unexpectedly wide winning margin.

"From the singing of the national anthem onwards, we could hear the people and it is that extra energy that drives us forward. It was like having an extra player on the field," he said.

South Africa face New Zealand in Auckland and Australia tackle fellow first round losers Argentina in Sydney this Saturday in the second series of matches.

Traditionally a six-matchday tournament, the southern hemisphere championship has been reduced to three this year because of the World Cup, which kicks off in Paris on September 8.

Defending champions South Africa, who have won the World Cup a record-equalling three times, are in Pool B with Ireland, the current No. 1 ranked Test team, Scotland, Romania and Tonga.

Two-time world champions Australia will meet Wales, Fiji, Georgia and Portugal in Pool C. Section winners and runners-up qualify for the quarter-finals of the global showpiece.

J.Thompson--ThChM