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Springboks flanker Kwagga Smith says the Boks are eager to sharpen their performance after an imperfect 42‑24 win over Italy at Loftus Versfeld.
Despite the 18‘point margin, both coach Rassie Erasmus and the players sounded subdued in the post‘match press conference.
Smith insists that’s because they demand perfection and will use the week to focus on improvement.
"Yeah, definitely we wanna be the best team in the world and I think you gotta be honest with yourself. If you know you didn't play to your ability and you didn't play well, although you win by 18 points, it doesn't matter, it's all about your standards and making sure that you live up to that standard. So, I think honesty is a really good thing in our environment and in our squad," Smith says.
Jesse Kriel stepped in as captain in Siya Kolisi’s absence against the Barbarians at DHL Stadium and at Loftus.
With Kolisi being managed as he recovers from a niggle, Salmaan Moerat will lead the team next, which features seven players from the side that defeated Italy 42-24 in Pretoria last week.
Smith says they’ll have to review a lot from that victory.
"We will obviously review ourselves and look at the game and see where we can improve and luckily we've got a week of training to do that," he added.
Smith earned praise from Erasmus for his strong second-half contribution after coming on as part of the “bomb squad.”
Even though South Africa led 28–3 at half-time, the Azzuri’s physical comeback exposed a drop–off, prompting Smith to note they expected a tough battle.
