South Africa 28-19 New Zealand, Tri-Nations, July 25
McCaw laments costly errors
Scrum.com
July 25, 2009
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Richie McCaw, the All Black captain leads his team off the field after their defeat, South Africa v New Zealand, Tri-Nations, Free State Stadium, Bloemfontein, South Africa, July 25, 2009
Richie McCaw led the All Blacks in Bloemfontein © Getty Images
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Players/Officials: Richie McCaw | John Smit

Losing All Blacks captain Richie McCaw lamented his side's discipline in their 28-19 loss to the Springboks in Bloemfontein.

"We weren't smart enough to play at the right end of the field in that first half," he said straight after the game. "I thought we defended pretty well but it was what we were going post-tackle, going off our feet. The Springboks played particularly well and simple mistakes forced us to play at our own end of the field. Points came from there."

After being comprehensively outplayed in the opening 40 minutes the All Blacks fought back well in second half to run the home side close in the end. Troubles at the ruck and yet again in the lineout saw their hopes of victory scuppered as McCaw admitted to Sky Sports .

"We played too much rugby from the wrong end of the field and our discipline let us down. The Boks played at the right end of the field and then got that breakaway try (scored by Jaque Fourie).

"I wish we knew (where it was going wrong)." McCaw said. "What happens is you lose one or two and then it snowballs from there. But I'm confident we can sort it out.'

McCaw's counterpart, the Springbok captain John Smit, was delighted with the win but is looking for a more clinical performance at King's Park next week.

"In order to pay for things, you have to earn the money first, and we tended to score points today after applying the pressure first,' Smit said. "Hopefully we can convert more pressure into points next week. But it was important for us to get our campaign off to a good start, and I'm happy with the win."

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