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CELEBRATION TIME: In the lowveld, the Boks delivered the ultimate high

rugby29 September 2024 04:40
By:Brenden Nel
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Springbok rugby loves a celebration and on Saturday in Nelspruit the good times kept on rolling.

The Boks not only blew Argentina off the park, but added more silverware to their cupboard and gave Bok lock Eben Etzebeth the most perfect of memories for his achievement of becoming the most capped Bok.

It was the culmination of a season of triumph - one where the Boks only disappointments were losing a test in the dying minutes to Ireland in Durban, and again in Santiago del Estero - the latter through a missed penalty.

And while the rankings may say otherwise, the Boks proved they are, if not the best team in the world, the smartest team in the world as they’ve added another layer to their impressive physicality and would make any team nervous to play them.

Going into this game there were tons of things to be nervous of. Argentina were the most improved side in the Rugby Championship and they have an attacking game that is exceptional. They have been the closest challengers to the Boks and the win in Santiago made them extremely dangerous - and meant the Boks needed to turn up and turn on the magic in Nelspruit.

And turn up and turn it on they did. There were large swathes of evidence that the Tony Brown attacking era is starting to be fine tuned, with the Boks relentless in their attack when they had the ball.

But all that was extra special as it didn’t see a drop in intensity in the physicality stakes. This Bok team has an all-round edge to it at the moment that makes them true champions. New Zealand may have passed Argentina for second spot, but they were still a whopping eight log points behind the Boks this year.

And when you give that victory context - it makes it even more impressive. The Boks have chopped and changed this season - perhaps not to everyone’s liking, but they have used 49 players in 10 test matches, and ended with an 80 per cent win record for their efforts.

The Boks have managed to achieve something close to improbable - they have grown their depth immensely while continuing to win. There are now two or three candidates in every position and with the URC likely to deliver even more talent that will make a claim in the coming months and years.

And they have added another trophy to their cabinet. The last time the Boks won a full Rugby Championship was 2009 - the 2019 version was a single round - and it meant a lot to them to do it in such emphatic fashion.

And in the process they have also done what few SA teams have done after a World Cup win - back it up with more silverware.

“The pressure has been on the players to gel quickly, and I must give credit to the coaching staff and all the backroom team and the guys for keeping on believing despite all the changes,” he said.

“We’ve used 49 players this year and 35 in the Rugby Championship. But when you get to these crunch games it’s the older heads and the calmer heads that sometimes pull it through and they help pull though a guy like Manie (Libbok).

“They understand the bigger picture and then things like this happen where all of us are privileged to sit with Eben today.

“It was gutsy performance and there was enough effort, and I do think there were brilliant plays at stages. So, it was a much better performance, it wasn’t perfect but there was some really good stuff that we can build on.”

Libbok’s performance was one of the massive highlights, and underlines just why Erasmus has been right all along about backing players to come good within the group.

But the celebrations didn’t just belong to the passionate crowd and the Boks with the silverware, it was also for Etzebeth, who grabbed the new milestone with his family and celebrated with pride.

“The milestone wouldn’t have been nice if we’d lost this game, so the team really showed up tonight,” said Etzebeth.

“The Rugby Championship was on the line; it was a final tonight, and we all wanted to win that trophy. The guys wanted to make it special for me, but it will always be a team sport, and the trophy was the big thing, and we’ll celebrate it very nicely tonight. It was an unbelievable performance from everyone.”

“There are guys I have been with at three World Cups, won two World Cups, guys like Siya, Jesse, Handre, Frans, Willie, Damian … I’m leaving a few out, but I wouldn’t have reached this milestone without those players.”

Asked how long he can still keep going, Etzebeth was frank in his answer.

“It’s about staying fit and pushing the body as far as it can go,” he said.

“I’ve made no secret that the reason I play this game is to play for this team; to perform for my club and to be selected for the national side – that’s the ultimate.

“So, I’ll keep pushing, training hard and performing for my club and hopefully the coaches will keep on selecting me. I never like to share my goals with the public – I like to keep it close to my heart – and I’ll still push on and if the body’s good I’ll continue to go.”

And with the passion and pride that this team currently play with, that could be for a long time coming.

And that, plus the magnificent progress the Boks have made this season, and the silverware in their cupboard, should make the rest of the world fear the fact that this side can get even better.

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