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'Changeroom almost like a funeral'
Springbok coach Peter de Villiers stopped short of blaming referee Bryce Lawrence but did say his team’s dressing room looked “three notches lower than a funeral” after they lost 11-9 to Australia in the Rugby World Cup quarterfinals.
While De Villiers and his team were clearly not happy with the New Zealander’s handling of the breakdown, where Australian David Pocock was allowed to get away with daylight robbery, he blamed his own team’s lack of finishing for the loss.
The Boks controlled all facets of the game, and were in Australia’s half almost 75 per cent of the match, but failed to score a try and were thwarted by their own mistakes and the Wallabies strong defence.
"They took their chances on the field and those things happen but after their try our guys were in control of the game. A few calls didn't go our way, so we couldn't get the momentum. But this is no time to criticise the ref. We give all credit to Robbie Deans and his team,” De Villiers said.
"Quarterfinals, semifinals, finals, you have got to take your chances. It didn't go our way, we didn't take all our chances. Well done to them, the few they got they took and beat us fairly on the scoreboard."
De Villiers said the changeroom was a lonely place right now.
"Three notches lower than a funeral. The guys are quiet. We never expected this, so not a really good mood in the changing room,” he added.
Captain John Smit said he was gutted by the result.
"It's the first time I have lost a game on the scoreboard and won it every other way from a stats point of view, so it makes it even harder to accept,” Smit said.
Smit said he had tried to talk to Lawrence about his decisions at the breakdown but had no reply.
"It was pretty much the only talking point really in the game between myself and the ref and the messages I was getting through obviously weren't working.
"When we decided to be brave and keep the ball, you'd normally be rewarded as an attacking team, but it wasn't quite that way tonight so you have got to take your hat off to them - they were good on the ground."
The Boks will return home on Sunday.
