Boks won't be chasing fool's gold again

Adriaan Strauss, in his captain's media briefing ahead of the Springboks' second Test against the Irish at Ellis Park on Saturday, said it is NOt about 'revenge' at Ellis Park on Saturday, but rather improving their own standards.

"We are a great group of players and we have the ability to be better than last week," Strauss told the media gathering at the team's hotel in Johannesburg.

However, the key issue for the Boks is to ensure that they decision makers ensure they don't fall into the same trap that was set by the Irish last week.

Strauss, who said they fixed a couple of things and put a couple of things in place ahead of Saturday's outing, admitted they let the coach, themselves and the country down.

"We created good opportunities, but our decision making wasn't good enough," he repeated the oft used quote, adding that it will be better this weekend.

"We have some great decision makers in the team and I trust them to make the right decisions this week," the Bok skipper said.

"Last week we saw the space and maybe chased a bit of fool's gold.

"The Irish showed us some space out wide and we just shifted it there, allowing to shut us down.

"We have learnt from that and, as I said, I back our decision makers.

"This is a great group of players and we owe ourselves a better performance."

He added that the Boks needed to be smart about the Irish's rush defence.

"We also need to be better at the mauls," Strauss said.

"That is one area we pride ourselves in and they did well to disrupt us there and gain momentum.

"At the breakdown we also gave away a lot of possession with silly mistakes."

By Jan de Koning, in Johannesburg

@rugby365com