Being a captain of an international rugby team isn’t an easy job.
You are expected to be a diplomat and a PR officer off the pitch and lead with the skill and intelligence of a military strategist on it, being adaptable and making countless snap decisions.
Part of your brief on the field is also to get on with the referee. Indeed, it’s a huge part of the skipper’s role.
Over the years we’ve watched how Sam Warburton performed that part of his brief brilliantly, while Alun Wyn Jones had certain officials virtually eating out of his hands, so cleverly did he deal with them.
I don’t want to be too negative about the current Wales captain Dan Biggar because he’s new to the role and still learning, but I would urge him to rethink the way he talks to the man with the whistle.
It’s a fine line because no-one wants to take away the passion from Biggar's game.
But a psychologist surely isn’t needed to see that stridently taking issue with the man who's supposed to be in charge isn’t the way to get on his right side. There was one point in Pretoria when the Wales No. 10 appeared to be talking in exasperated tones as he sought answers to questions that had been plaguing him. I understand he’s human and can lose his cool like the rest of us, but, equally, a calmer approach can go a long way for a captain in a rugby match.
The best skippers I played under were Mervyn Davies, Phil Bennett and Bill Beaumont, in no particular order. All of them were able to put their concerns across in a non-confrontational way, as if genuinely seeking clarification from referees about areas that were worrying them.
Like I say, Biggar is fresh to the job and so is encountering different experiences and challenges.
But he needs to learn a lesson from the weekend.
Without losing any of the drive that makes him the player he is, he would do well to make a conscious effort to dial down on the emotion when speaking to officials. I’d be surprised if he didn’t find such an approach hugely beneficial.
Away from the captaincy, I’m still wondering how Wales managed to lose a game they will feel they should have won after turning around 18-3 ahead. I can only suggest a l ack of composure and discipline did for them.
The lack of composure was evident in kicking possession back to South Africa in the dying moments. There were barely 20 seconds left on the clock when Tomos Williams chose to kick long to the Boks with the score at 29-29.
People might say it would have been equally risky to attempt to hold onto the ball at that point.
I’m sorry, if a side can’t keep possession for 20 seconds then you have to wonder what’s going on with them.
Let's skip the science here and say all that was needed for a forward to stick it up his jumper, trundle forward, recycle and for the scrum-half to lump it into touch. Had Wales done that they’d have secured a draw. Kicking the ball away was ludicrous.
I don’t know whether such a strategy was designed in training to close a game or if the captain or Williams himself made the call. Whatever, it was poor game-management that proved ultra-costly.
The ill-discipline came from the pressure Wales were being put under. Still, it’ll be an area to work on this week. To lose one player to the sin-bin during a match is unfortunate; to lose four is beyond careless. In defence of Louis Rees-Zammit, I felt the decision to card him was borderline.
It left Wales down another man and missing a player who’d generally had an excellent game.
The game-plan on the day was conservative and did put pressure on South Africa, with Kieran Hardy box-kicking well and the chasers hurrying the Springboks into errors, but I would have liked to have seen more of the Welsh backs.
They showed early doors how potent they could be with that brilliant try that saw Rees-Zammit coast in at the flag. But over the game George North had just one run and made just one pass, while Josh Adams had the ball in hand only once. Potentially, those two are big attacking assets who could worry defences, but we didn’t have the confidence to use them.
I would steer clear of changing the backline for the second Test.
Up front, I have concerns about the Welsh front row, especially after the injury to our top scrummaging prop, Tomas Francis. He is out of the second Test and however you paint it, it’s a heck of a blow for the tourists.
As a former front-row forward I always pay close attention to the first scrum of any match because it’s important in setting the tone. On Saturday, Dillon Lewis gave away a penalty at the first set-piece.
But I guess he has to start this coming weekend because the alternative is to play either Sam Wainwright or Harri O’Connor, two youngsters who may end up being good players but who simply lack the experience to play a full-on role in a Test against South Africa.
Pivac could ask Wyn Jones to move across and perhaps cover Lewis off the bench but it is a big challenge, even though I understand Jones does have some experience in the tight-head spot early in his career. You can read more about Wyn Jones here.
The one position where I would make an alteration would be at hooker, where I’d bring in Dewi Lake. Ryan Elias hasn’t done anything wrong but rugby is a game of small margins and if one player is slightly ahead of his rival it’s worth starting with him.
Lake looks the genuine article. He is big, powerful and seems to have the right attitude. I like the way he plays in opposition faces and he took his try well at Loftus Versfeld.
South Africa will be better in the second and third Tests, so to have any chance Wales will have to improve as well. That means using their backs more and improving their game-management, particularly when games are coming to the boil.
What I really hope doesn’t happen is that people are happy with a gallant defeat. Ultimately, rugby is a results-driven business and Saturday was a loss, which is no cause for celebration.
South Africans would never cheer a reverse, nor would New Zealanders. Maybe it’s about time we began thinking the same way.
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