Brown wants more from Bok attack

The rugby world may still be in awe of the Springboks big win over the All Blacks in Wellington just more than a week ago, but Springbok attack coach Tony Brown is still not happy.

Brown, who has been the attack coach since last season and saw the fruits of his attacking platform come to play in the big win over the traditional rivals, still believes the Boks can be better, and they have a lot of work still to do.

The approach underlines just how seriously the Boks are taking this weekend’s penultimate Castle Lager Rugby Championship fixture against Argentina. With all four sides on two wins, the Championship is still up for grabs, and the Boks know they may have stunned the world in Wellington, but it means nothing if they don’t back it up.

STILL LOTS TO DO FOR BOKS

Brown was up to start the media engagement and warned that while it was a good performance in New Zealand, the Boks still had a lot to do.

“Well, actually, I didn't think we executed too well in the first half,” Brown said.

“I think we've shown patches of good rugby this year, but I don't think we've put 80 minutes together. So my goal is to get us to perform for 80 minutes, execute all the opportunities that we're producing, and try and really put teams away.

“Even though last Saturday was good against the All Blacks, our first half was still riddled with errors, and we've just got to be better in those situations.”

That quest for perfection is something that is there for every team in rugby, but the Argentinians will pose a different challenge and Brown knows the Boks need to be ready for that. Any resting on laurels and the Boks may find themselves on the wrong side of the scoreline, like the 2015 Boks did in Durban.

“ It was a good performance against the All Blacks, but Argentina are a different team playing pretty good rugby. They've beaten the All Blacks already. They've beaten Australia. So the message to our guys is if we don't prepare as well as we can, we don't, I guess, pitch up and be as physical and dominant as possible, we're going to be put under pressure. So getting our game right is the massive part for us this week.”

AERIAL BATTLE CRUCIAL

Brown didn’t want to give away much on team selection, but with rain forecast for the weekend in Durban and Argentina also dominant in the aerial battle against the All Blacks, the kicking contest is likely to be crucial this weekend.

“It's become a massive part of the game all around the world, especially now you're not allowed an escort. So the one-on-one contest in the air is becoming really dynamic, and the players that can do it the best are creating opportunities for attacking sides. So Argentina are very good, and we're expecting a massive battle there for sure.

“When it's a 50-50 situation, teams are always thinking they're going to win it. So then when they lose it, it's very hard to organise your D quickly. So being able to attack in those situations is what makes the aerial contest so dynamic now.”

Brown wouldn’t say if changes from the Wellington test were coming, but did say that the Boks would be confident no matter which side they put on the field.

“I think we've got a squad of 35 to 45 players that are all capable of playing test match rugby. They all offer different things around the game and their individual attributes. I'm always comfortable with whoever we send out there that they can do the job and they can play the way that we want to play as a team,” he added.

“And Andre (Esterhuizen) just mentioned around the attacking side and making sure that we're always attacking together. All of the players that I've coached in the last couple of years, they can do that and I'm 100 per cent confident whoever we send out to do the job that they can do it. We want to build depth and you've seen selections change every week and that's not going to change, I don't think.”

The Boks will name their side to face Argentina on Tuesday.