Springbok coach Jacques Nienaber has lamented a lack of accuracy from the world champions in the closing moments of a disappointing defeat by the All Blacks on Saturday.

The Kiwis, who led 15-10 at half time, scored two tries in the final seven minutes to deny a Bok comeback and clinch a 35-23 victory at Ellis Park.

“We weren’t as accurate as we were last week and they kept offloading, taking high risks which we didn’t contain that well,” Nienaber told reporters after the Boks failed to record back-to-back Rugby Championship victories over New Zealand.

“I thought we did well to come back; 15-0 down against the All Blacks is a tough ask to get back into the game, which we managed to do in the back end of the first half and up to 73 minutes. And then we slipped at the back end.”

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The Boks created several try-scoring opportunities without reward and had to overcome the loss to concussion of wing Jesse Kriel in the opening minutes, which again placed pressure on the bench with its six-two split.

“We were over the tryline three times but we got zero points for that and rightly so,” said Nienaber.

“There were nice opportunities but sometimes it goes against you. The six-two bench split sometimes works for you and sometimes against you.

“I think since we have been back, we have coached 45 games and we’ve probably gone with a six-two split more than 30 times and it did bring us some positive results with a World Cup win and series victory over the British & Irish Lions, but saying that we know it is a risk if you get a backline injury and it’s just unfortunate.”

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The Boks next face Australia at Adelaide Oval on Saturday, 27 August, and again the following week in New South Wales on 3 September, before travelling to Argentina where they will meet the Pumas at Estadio Jose Amalfitani in Buenos Aires on 17 September.

The team will then return to South Africa to wrap up their campaign in Durban against the Pumas on Saturday, 24 September.

“We would have loved to gain momentum with a win, but we can’t let our heads drop for long,” said Bok skipper Siya Kolisi.

“There are still four more games to go but we have missed an opportunity. New Zealand played really well today; they controlled the game more.

“We fought back really well in the second half but we slipped up in one moment; we fell asleep and that’s what they can do to you when that happens.”

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