Supersub Kwagga Smith worried about slow-starting Springboks

Springbok supersub Kwagga Smith believes the Boks have only themselves to blame for not putting away the All Blacks in Auckland on Saturday.

The South Africans went down 24-17 after a disastrous start saw them trail 14-0 within the opening ten minutes.

“We’re very disappointed,” Smith said.

“We had opportunities and didn’t use them. It’s now about reviewing that and making sure that next weekend in Wellington, when we get those opportunities, we actually use them and convert them into points.”

Smith, who made a significant impact when he came on and scored a try, said the Boks’ poor start was costly.

“Those first two tries – they hadn’t even put up one phase and scored. I don’t know if it was a lack of intensity or focus, but it was just a little bit too easy for them to get those 14 points.

“Then when we got into their 22, we lost the ball or gave away a penalty. Those are opportunities we didn’t use.”

Smith is concerned that slow starts are becoming a trend for the Boks.

“It’s difficult, because you build up to the game, and then something goes wrong and you lose. It’s not like we planned it. We came into this game wanting to fire and get the win, but things went against us. We’ll review it and make sure we get better.”

The Boks struggled at the breakdown, an area where the All Blacks were superior.

“I think the breakdown battle was quite big tonight. Ardie (Savea) did really well in his 100th game. It was a massive occasion for him.

“The ball was slippery, it spat out often at the breakdowns, and they got a few turnovers. We’ll review that and make sure we clean it up. The weather played a part, but we can definitely do better in that area.”

Smith felt the set scrums were a positive for the Boks.

“Our scrum functioned well, and the fact that we didn’t give up and kept playing was really good. We got ourselves back into the game and gave ourselves a chance. But we didn’t use our opportunities – we left a lot of points out there.”