“I’ll never blame the ref.”- Kolisi

Ireland put up a good show to edge out the Springboks 19-16 in Dublin on Saturday evening. Marring the spectacle somewhat was the fact that the officiating found itself in the spotlight once more as the Boks were on the receiving end of some questionable calls, although captain Siya Kolisi and coach Jacques Nienaber were steadfast in not making excuses.

“I’ll never blame the ref,” Kolisi said post-match. “Both tries were checked [by the TMO] and then there’s nothing else you can do. I thought he was fair and Ireland played very well.”

The sentiments were echoed by Nienaber who also highlighted the poor goal-kicking as a significant factor in the loss.

“We’re working on it. We and the players measure their goalkicking, so they know at what percentage they’re kicking at during the week. It’s tough, in some instances a miss is actually a kick that hits the posts. It is what it is. None of the goalkickers go out there to miss a goal.

“Johnny (Sexton) didn’t try to miss his first conversion, for example, but the key is he nailed the big ones and we didn’t. I’ll never blame a player for that. They must just keep working on it, which they are.”

The Boks will have to lift their game next weekend if they are to challenge the French in Paris.