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- Springbok scrum coach Daan Human said they were happy with the decisions made to kick at goal after Saturday's 13-8 Rugby World Cup loss against Ireland in Paris.
- The Boks kicked two long-range penalties for poles when the option to kick for the corner to set up the maul was there for them.
- The Boks have returned to Toulon to prepare for Sunday's must-win Pool B game against Tonga in Marseille.
- For more sports news, please visit News24 Sport's home page.
In Toulon
Springboks scrum coach Daan Human said they were happy with the kicking decisions taken in Saturday's 13-8 Rugby World Cup loss to Ireland in Paris on Saturday.
The Springboks, through Faf de Klerk, took long-range shots at goal which were missed when the option of taking the lineout was on.
De Klerk missed both attempts, with one cannoning off the crossbar, from where the Boks nearly scored a try.
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Those six points, along with the five that Manie Libbok missed through a penalty and a conversion, proved to be crucial to the final outcome of the game.
Had those kicks gone over, the Springboks would've had less to sweat over regarding Sunday's final Pool B game against Tonga in Marseille, a game they need to win with a bonus point, from where they let other fates take care of the rest of the pool.
The Boks are back in Toulon where on Tuesday, they started preparing for Sunday's game in far more pleasant conditions as compared to the stifling heat of the first two weeks of September.
The session saw all players take part, even though scrumhalf De Klerk had his left-knee strapped up.
"We were very comfortable with Faf taking the long kicks and one of them nearly got to the poles," Human said.
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"We were very confident with that, and I liked the fact Faf had a lot of confidence in his kicking and I don’t think we should go away from that.
"Sometimes it'll go over and sometimes it won't, in the same way that you might or might not score from a lineout."
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The Springboks only had two mauls that came in the second half against Ireland, one of which was successfully sacked on the stroke of full-time.
The bulk of the lineouts were for Ireland, with the Boks' choice of taking penalties instead of going for the corner also affecting the number of mauls they set up in Ireland's 22m.
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Deon Fourie's throwing as the replacement hooker didn't come into question in those pressure moments and Human said their choice to go for poles didn't undermine the functionality of their lineout.
"They kick sometimes, but the statistics say that the 70 percent average of kicks that go to touch aren't successful," Human said.
"We backed our boys for the kicking and that's why we went for the poles. We're still backing our maul going forward, but we'll work on that and rectify a couple of things.
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"I'm pretty sure that Deon is putting a lot of work into the maul to make it successful."
Springbok coach Jacques Nienaber will announce his match-day 23 to face Tonga on Wednesday at 19:00 and kick-off in Sunday's game is at 21:00.
