Always room to improve for Boks

The Springbok line-out came under immense pressure in game two of the series after Pieter-Steph du Toit was lost to an injury, however when Lood de Jager came on the field the set-piece settled and the home side gained the upper-hand which saw them produce several unanswered questions.

For De Jager, who made an impressive return to international rugby, the team have to continue to evolve in a number of areas if they are going to close out the series this coming weekend.

“There are always areas that you can improve on, and we are never satisfied,” De Jager said. “From a defensive perspective we are never satisfied, and the coaches are never satisfied.

“We have obviously had good results as a result of our defence but fine-tuning and improving in the smaller areas can make us even better.”

Going into this weekend’s series decider De Jager knows that there are areas where the side can improve, however he kept those specifics close to his chest.

“We had a comprehensive review and there were things that we did well and things that we didn’t do well but for us it’s always been about improving in all aspects of the game.

“There are some areas that we have identified but as a collective we want to improve in every single area. Where we did well, we want to do better and where we didn’t do well, we want to improve.”

A match that included numerous dust-up’s throughout the first half showed the competitive nature of the fixture, however De Jager knows that both sides were determined to get the win.

“There was a bit more niggle but that’s just the magnitude of the game.

“They are playing for their nations and world class players who are very proud and for us it was personal as well.

“If they won the game they would have won the series and it was also massive for us because if we lost we were done.

“I think the magnitude of the game contributed to that niggle that we saw.”

The Springboks have called up young Jaden Hendrickse, Dan du Preez, Rosko Specman and Johan Grobelaar to the squad as cover going into this week.

There is no clarity as yet about the squad and what the injury situation is like.

Saturday’s final test match has a few important potential milestones.

The British and Irish Lions haven’t lost a series since Warren Gatland has been in charge. They beat Australia and then shared their series with New Zealand.

The Springboks have lost one series and won one series against the Lions since 1997. This will be the first series that will go to a decider as the Lions won 2-1 in 1997 and the Springboks won 2-1 in 2009.