The try scored by Ben Smith started with an AB take by Messam at the front of the lineout.....good quick ball. Fekitoa dummy ran right onto Lambie and the ball was passed wide to Smith.
At this stage Lambie and Jean were aligned. But Step hesitated, forming a bubble in the Bok line. That bubble is what Smith attacked, beating Jean on the inside and Steppie on the outside. Smiths pass set Ben Smith free, and he stepped the cover defence. It was a simple move made dangerous because tackles were not made and we failed to maintain a straight defensive line. Jean did not rush out of line....he was aligned with Lambie, if anything he was outside Smith, our standard practice. But the inside tacklers have to react.
The try by Coles came from an AB lineout win off our ball in the 22. Some suggest Matfield was out jumped, but was this true? Bakkies faked rather ineffectively at the front, but the Whitelock pod held steady and timed the jump brilliantly. Whitelock got high in front of Matfield who is clearly behind the NZ lock and a fraction later into the air.
In the end there is no chance for Matfield, the ball fails to clear Whitelock. He is high enough, but the ball simply doesn't reach him.
But the jump call is made by Matfield, so his timing should be the timing of the throw. It was probably thrown a fraction early and definitely short.
The ball is routinely passed by the ABs but Fekitoa ( I think) cuts inside again directly onto Lambie who makes a good tackle. But Step and Jean are stranded further down the line on the blindside of the ruck....Lambie joins this side as well. This leaves a weak open side with no Bok back defenders. Simple passing cashes in the overlap.
So if defensive alignment and poor tackling caused the first try....what about the second. A lost lineout ball, no slowing of the ball at the ruck and again, poor defensive alignment were the culprits.
