Death of the Bok bomb?; Rugby 365

Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer says that he might have to change tactics after another costly yellow card conceded under a high ball.

The visitors went down 12-6 to Wales on Saturday in a tryless match at the Millenium Stadium to finish the year with a whimper having lost their only two matches in Europe under Meyer.

Wing Cornal Hendricks was sent to the sin bin in the 63rd minute after competing for an up-and-under, which left them with little chance of overhauling the home side.

This was very similar to what happened in the Boks' other defeat on this tour against Ireland in Dublin, when hooker Adriaan Strauss was sent to the sidelines and Meyer said that he would have to consider whether kicking and competing for the high ball is worthwhile going forward.

"We said we have to learn from this and we have to look hard and see where we can go from here.

"We need to look at our tactics, I don't know if it is worthwhile going in the air anymore because it is always a 50/50. We are very big on discipline and in the Rugby Championship we gave away the least amount of yellow cards," he said.

Meyer admitted that the loss of Hendricks effectively signalled the end of their chances of winning the game, and added that the lack of clarity on what is legal when competing in the air is problematic.

"The yellow card for Cornal was probably the end of it because we were six points behind and needed to attack but you have to go into defensive mode.

"I am not saying it ws the wrong decision and I am not saying that we lost because of that, but it is a grey area in the game I believe.

"We play by the laws and we work really hard on that, the referee is always right.

"Up in the air it is always going to be a 50/50, it is not for me to decide so in future we might have to let the guy go down and then tackle him but worldwide everybody goes up for the ball and I think it is a grey area that they need to sort out in the game," he explained.

Meyer said that his team had been frustrated by the quality of possssion they had on attack and simply made too many errors to caitalise on their opportunities.

"The main thing we find is that in the northern hemisphere we don't get quick ball and it is frustrating at times when we are on the front foot and don't get quick ball

"It is obviously very disappointing, I always said that our character and depth was going to be tested. We always knew it was going to be tough and I just think in the end there were too many mistakes," he said.