England

Meyer: Injuries are no excuse

Sun, 17 Jun 2012 14:37
Kruger-injured-630

Springboks coach Heyneke Meyer has continued his tough stance on seeking perfection and doesn't believe injuries are an excuse for letting things slip in the second half.

South Africa were in complete control of the match after a fantastic first half, but injuries to Willem Alberts, Juandre Kruger and Patrick Lambie seemed to let England seize some momentum and fight their way back.

"Unfortunately we had a few injuries but that is not an excuse. I thought England really took their chances and we gave them some soft tries," Meyer told SAPA.

"We lost a lot of rhythm especially among the forwards with the injuries and at the backs as well. But that is not an excuse. I still thought we could have played better but the standout thing for me is we came back in the end and scored a great try.

"If you look at it in context, we won by five last week and we were lucky winning by nine."

Meyer was quick to praise England for their efforts to come back into contention having looked dead an buried at one stage.

"All credit to England, I thought they played brilliantly in the second half and we couldn't get going," he said.

"I was very happy with some glimpses I saw of the type of rugby we want us to play and to score four tries to three on the day... I will take it.

"England got all the momentum and were probably good enough to win the game... we came back and scored a good try.

"I thought we scored four really good tries and we just need to up the defence now.

"I think England can be proud of the way they played. It was a gutsy performance especially at altitude and coming back at us."

RELATED ARTICLES
Newsletter Subscription
Subscribe now to Rugby365 and you'll be able to receive our informative newsletters and access special promotions.