McCaw calls for response

All Black skipper wants to learn from last two games

Last updated: 31st July 2009   Subscribe to RSS Feed

McCaw calls for response

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New Zealand captain Richie McCaw says his All Blacks need to learn from their mistakes in order to beat South Africa on Saturday.

The All Blacks slumped to a 28-19 defeat last weekend with the skipper pointing to mistakes costing them the chance of victory.

In their Tri-Nations opener, New Zealand overcame a slow start to beat Australia, but they looked visibly off the pace physically, and now they must turn things around.

Graham Henry's side face world champions South Africa again on Saturday, with the visitors hoping to avenge their defeat with a win in Durban.

After a strong finish against the Springboks last week, 28-year-old McCaw has called for them to cut out the errors in order to get back to winning ways.

Mistakes

"I think last week it was just mistakes that we made," said McCaw. "I think in the first game against the Aussies we were just off the pace physically.

"We failed a few tackles and things like that and that allowed them to get on top of us before we got back into the game."

The All Blacks recovered from a 17-3 deficit early in the second half last weekend to get within four points, but the hosts sealed the deal when Jaque Forrie went over eight minutes from time to make it 25-16.

"Last week, we started off maybe over physical and gave away a couple of penalties that caused us to be at the wrong end of the field," McCaw added.

"We've just got to make sure we start with that real physical edge. We've got to be pretty calm and not give away silly penalties or make silly mistakes, which allows the pressure to build on you. That's something we'll emphasise. We have certainly addressed it."

Owen Franks will start his first Test for New Zealand tomorrow at tighthead prop having come off the bench for his three previous All Blacks caps.

The 21-year-old Crusaders star comes in for Neemia Tialata, who sprained his right knee during the 28-19 defeat by the Springboks in Bloemfontein on Saturday.

The other change comes at half-back, where Jimmy Cowan replaces Brendon Leonard, while John Afoa is named among the replacements.

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