Springbok centre Damian de Allende said fans had sworn at players in the streets in the past. They have not done so this time.
Springbok centre Damian de Allende said the team has not suffered too much verbal abuse from fans after their shock 38–22 defeat to the Wallabies at Ellis Park last week.
He said that compared to when fans swore at players on the streets after Ireland beat them for the first time in South Africa in 2016, beating the Springboks 26–20 in Cape Town with 14 men, this was nothing.
Springboks want to get it right
The Springboks suffered just their second defeat at their Ellis Park fortress (the first since 1963) against the Wallabies when they surrendered a 22–0 lead after 18 minutes, losing 38–22 in the Rugby Championship match last Saturday.
South African sports fans can be harsh at the best of times, but the Johannesburg stadium erupted in jeers and booing a few times during the match, displeasure directed at referee Ben O’Keeffe and Wallabies players alternately as fans came to grips with such an unexpected and shocking result.
But the criticism directed at the Springboks has been the hardest. When the Boks walked off the field at Ellis Park, they received little consolatory support. Fans and pundits alike have spoken harshly of players since the game, but many have also been patient and understanding.
“We had a lot of people swear at us when we walked to the gym [back in 2016]. But this year has been better,” De Allende said.
“Our supporters have been a lot more positive, which is very nice. Obviously, we are very disappointed about what happened on Saturday and we are also disappointed because we let the fans down.
“But it helps us a bit when we walk to the gym and the fans are a lot more positive. We know we are nothing without the fans but we also know what we want to do this weekend and what went wrong this past weekend and we want to take this challenge head-on.”
De Allende: ‘Everything happens for a reason’
He said the Springboks have learnt their lessons from the setback.
“I believe that everything happens for a reason. We started very well on Saturday and obviously it didn’t go to plan afterwards. I think setbacks do happen, and they’ve happened to every other team in the world.
He said it was good to be in a team where everyone understand what went wrong and want to fix that.
“I’ve been in team environments where things go wrong and everything just turns sour, and you try fix everything but you don’t find the solution. But here we’ve found the solution already and that’s a positive for me.”
