White rues naivety of young Boks

PARIS – South Africa coach Jake White rued the naivety of his inexperienced Springbok side after they ended their season with a second test defeat.

Only a vintage All Black side had managed to better South Africa this year before France stunned them with two tries in the first 10 minutes at a freezing Stade de France on Saturday night. Despite a fightback from 15-3 down at the break, the Springboks went down 26-20 at the stadium that will host the next World Cup final in 2007.White had been confident of his squad putting down a marker for that tournament, despite the absence of several top players through injury, after victories on the road over an impressive Argentina and Six Nations champions Wales earlier in November.”I regard the tour as two successful games and one failure,” a clearly frustrated White told reporters at the Stade de France.”It’s still a young side but we’re a bit disappointed that every time we look like we’re going to win a big game we come up a score short.”Making a good start was something we talked a lot about.We know that France like to keep the ball and we made stupid mistakes at the beginning to put ourselves under pressure.”But when you’ve decision makers in key positions who are so young you make bad decisions.”Sometimes we went left when we should have gone right and right when we should have gone left, but that comes with experience.”Even the more experienced members of his side did not escape White’s ire, although the coach suggested that fullback Percy Montgomery’s errors of judgement may have been down to the distraction of the battle earlier this week to have his red card against Wales rescinded.”Monty has got 70 plus caps but he made a couple of stupid mistakes at the end.”South Africa were the only team to beat New Zealand this year but their defeat in the dying seconds of the matches against the All Blacks at Dunedin this year and Christchurch in 2004 still rankle White.”What hurts is that the All Blacks beat us at the death and now a bad start cost us this match in France,” he said.There can be no doubt, however, that the Springboks are in a much better position two years ahead of the next World Cup than they were a year before the last tournament when they lost by 50 points to England and 30-10 to France.White has blooded some young players but still has experienced men such as flyhalves Andre Pretorius and Jaco van der Westhuyzen to return.”If you take a step back and look at what this team have done, given their age, there’s a lot of positives,” he said.”The reality is that to win the World Cup you’re going to have to beat France at the Stade de France,” he said.”We were one score away and there’s not many teams that are going to beat France when they’re 15-3 down at halftime.”-Nampa-ReutersDespite a fightback from 15-3 down at the break, the Springboks went down 26-20 at the stadium that will host the next World Cup final in 2007.White had been confident of his squad putting down a marker for that tournament, despite the absence of several top players through injury, after victories on the road over an impressive Argentina and Six Nations champions Wales earlier in November.”I regard the tour as two successful games and one failure,” a clearly frustrated White told reporters at the Stade de France.”It’s still a young side but we’re a bit disappointed that every time we look like we’re going to win a big game we come up a score short.”Making a good start was something we talked a lot about.We know that France like to keep the ball and we made stupid mistakes at the beginning to put ourselves under pressure.”But when you’ve decision makers in key positions who are so young you make bad decisions.”Sometimes we went left when we should have gone right and right when we should have gone left, but that comes with experience.”Even the more experienced members of his side did not escape White’s ire, although the coach suggested that fullback Percy Montgomery’s errors of judgement may have been down to the distraction of the battle earlier this week to have his red card against Wales rescinded.”Monty has got 70 plus caps but he made a couple of stupid mistakes at the end.”South Africa were the only team to beat New Zealand this year but their defeat in the dying seconds of the matches against the All Blacks at Dunedin this year and Christchurch in 2004 still rankle White.”What hurts is that the All Blacks beat us at the death and now a bad start cost us this match in France,” he said.There can be no doubt, however, that the Springboks are in a much better position two years ahead of the next World Cup than they were a year before the last tournament when they lost by 50 points to England and 30-10 to France.White has blooded some young players but still has experienced men such as flyhalves Andre Pretorius and Jaco van der Westhuyzen to return.”If you take a step back and look at what this team have done, given their age, there’s a lot of positives,” he said.”The reality is that to win the World Cup you’re going to have to beat France at the Stade de France,” he said.”We were one score away and there’s not many teams that are going to beat France when they’re 15-3 down at halftime.”-Nampa-Reuters