Heyneke Meyer on his first Bok Test in charge

Summing up the game

“Obviously we have to look at the breakdown, we didn’t get quality ball in the first half, in the second half I thought we got great ball.

“I thought the defence from both sides was awesome, the first half was a real battle out there, and although I am happy with our defence that last try was unacceptable.

“We have got high standards so obviously we want to improve on this but I thought it was a really tough Test match so we are happy to have pulled through.

“At some stages I really thought we played great rugby, we moved the ball around and I was happy with the result, but we butchered one or two tries and you need to finish those in Test match rugby.

“I think that this team has been so great from the start, they have got very high standards, so although there were some hard words they knew that they had to step up in the second half.”

What happened at half-time?

“I am very emotional and sometimes I lose it so I must say that Jean was brilliant at half-time. I just said to the forwards it is not good enough and we needed to get stuck in, because I wanted them to up the tempo and get better cleans to allow our ball-carriers to get into the game.

“I thought that England were brilliant in the way that they put pressure on the scrumhalf, and they pressed very hard in midfield so we made a few changes to our tactical kicking in the second half which worked.

“I thought the first 20 minutes they pressed very hard and we should have played more tactically but the plan was always to open up the game in the second half.

“I thought England’s tactical kicking was much better than ours in the first half, they put the ball in behind us and moved us around so we couldn’t get any quick ball or momentum, but once we changed things in the second half it went much better.”

Using the bench

“We said from the start that we were going to use the whole bench, it is a huge risk but we wanted to up the tempo of the game and a lot of these guys played tough rugby a week ago so we knew that England would be fresh coming over.

“Zane was injured at half-time and a lot of the other guys were impact players and we needed them to up the tempo and get us going forward.”

Changes for the next test?

“I have said to the players that I don’t believe in giving out jerseys, if you play for this team I don’t believe in chances – you earn a chance and I will stick with the same team, I don’t think we have a lot of time.

“I want these guys to get more confidence and gain more experience as a team so I will stick with the side. Obviously we will take a look at England and might make one or two tweaks but there will not be a lot of changes.

“The next Test will be much tougher but luckily the nerves are gone now, a lot of the guys really put up their hands and I am very happy with the win so I think that next week is going to be unbelievable.”

On the players

Bryan Habana: “Bryan has probably played his best rugby for me, we had some long chats and he knew from the start that I thought Bjorn was really playing some great rugby. I just said to Bryan that he needs to go out there and enjoy the game, I always knew he was a special player and he just needed to go out there and be the vibrant player that he was in the beginning. Bryan got to a stage where he was almost too conservative and I said: ‘Bryan, with your x-factor you must go out there and make mistakes but bring that x-factor’. He was brilliant in the previous game against the Bulls and I thought he was brilliant at times tonight and he will improve from here.”

The locks: “Eben is only 20 and in his first Test match he didn’t stand back; the physicality was there. Because Juandre has played a lot of Super Rugby against the best in the world I thought he was very in charge and calm there which we definitely needed.”

The loose forwards: “I am very happy with the loose forwards, I thought Willem Alberts was brilliant – I spoke to him during the Super Rugby competition and told him that he was going to start so I wanted him at his best and he was awesome. I thought Marcell Coetzee had an unbelievable Test match, especially as he is a youngster who is only turned 21 two weeks ago. I thought Pierre had one of his better Test matches as well so as a loose trio that have never played together I am very happy. I think it is difficult to stop guys at that speed who are big and great ball-carriers so I think they will just get better as a combination and although Keegan did not have a lot of time when he came on he also made a difference.”

The midfield: “Jean and Frans can be a brilliant combination, there is a lot of skill out there. What makes Frans a great player is that he has got the skill and he is tough, and Jean just gives us a different dimension at 13, I thought he was brilliant there especially on defence and I think it is a great combination going forward.”