Coetzee demands more from improving Springboks
South Africa produced an impressive display in their opening match of the 2017 Rugby Championship to beat Argentina 37-15, but Allister Coetzee wants to see more from the Springboks.
Four tries and 17 points from the boot of Elton Jantjies in Port Elizabeth made it four wins out of four for South Africa this year, a long way from their miserable end to 2016.
Their pack laid the foundations for Saturday's victory with a colossal performance - particularly in the scrum - while the backs looked to attack at will with the ball in hand.
Courtnall Skosan and Raymond Rhule claimed their first international tries, while Siya Kolisi and Pieter-Steph du Toit also touched down.
But despite the strong all-around showing coach Coetzee expects more improvements as they travel to Salta for the return clash with the Pumas.
"I am very pleased with the win, although it was not a perfect performance," said Coetzee.
"We did some good things out there, our scrums were outstanding, with Coenie Oosthuizen delivering an exceptional performance, our mauling has improved and once again the bench made a telling difference when called upon.
"But for us to deliver another winning performance, we need to improve in a number of areas, such as tactical kicking and our lineouts."
It is all over at @nmbstadium as #Springboks remain undefeated at this venue, beating @unionargentina 37-15 to start Rugby Champs with bang pic.twitter.com/26f2tGwhcR
— South African Rugby (@Springboks) August 19, 2017
Captain Eben Etzebeth was also delighted with a fourth successive win at home, but knows replicating that form on foreign soil is their next challenge.
He said: "We wanted to play in their half and we managed to keep them down there and punished their mistakes.
"We must try and take some of this momentum into next week's game. We need to change the mind-set that away matches are tough and try to stay positive."
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The comments tell us why we can't select All Blacks who play in Australia. Standards simply aren't as high.
Go to commentsNice! Should be an even more exciting season that last year. Who have Verblitz got to replace Beauden Barrett? They should be a lot better this year. Tiaan Falcon might be able to run the ship.
Is Ben Herring still their coach? I was hoping he would return to NZ with Fosters addition to the team but a recent article seemed to suggest he was still just an assistant.
Appreciate the player insights for the up and commers. Been a bit dreary watching Champions Cup rugby so can't wait for it to start.
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