The Springboks have more than a hand and a couple of fingers gripping the Castle Lager Rugby Championship trophy but that wasn’t what the world champions were thinking about after their 18-12 win over the All Blacks at DHL Stadium.
Although coach Rassie Erasmus admitted that there was a bit of disappointment when Cheslin Kolbe tried to drop a goal with three minutes to go when the Boks were on the Kiwi line, because “we were looking for the bonus point”, it was the first feel of the Freedom Cup in 15 years that had the hosts in an ecstatic mood on Saturday night.
Skipper Siya Kolisi, who turned in a monumental and committed personal performance that belied the injury cloud he carried through the buildup week, said that winning the Freedom Cup awarded to the winner of the mini-series between the two teams that makes up part of the Championship, was second only to winning the World Cup.
“We all wanted this game, we knew how big it was. The coach gave me the chance to play when I said I am okay,” said Kolisi.
“No one would have celebrated my performance if I said I was okay and then didn’t go all out, but we all needed it today. The coach was very honest with us (at halftime) and at the start of the second half we did what was needed.
“This game was really big for us. Outside of a World Cup final, it was the biggest game we have all been involved in. And it was great that new guys like Sacha (Feinberg-Mngomezulu) and Canan Moodie were part of it. It would have been really good for their personal growth to be part of this achievement and this game.”
The Springboks extend their winning streak against the All Blacks 🔥 pic.twitter.com/cExHk24peX
— SuperSport Rugby (@SSRugby) September 7, 2024
MORE IMPORTANT THAN THE FOUR WINS IN A ROW
For Erasmus, the Freedom Cup trophy was more important than the four wins in a row the Boks have achieved since they started the winning sequence against their greatest foe when they thumped the All Blacks 35-7 in a World Cup warmup game at Twickenham just over a year ago.
Siya Kolisi was very clear about what the goal was for the Springboks this week 🙌
— SuperSport Rugby (@SSRugby) September 7, 2024
They lift the Freedom Cup for the first time since 2009 🏆#TRC2024 pic.twitter.com/btpGjNp6C0
“It was important for us to win four in a row, but they have beaten us six times in a row before so it isn’t something we must brag too much about,” said Erasmus.
“They have done worse to us. This week the talk was all about the Freedom Cup, we talked about it a lot. It wasn’t necessarily about the Rugby Championship, although that is important. But we still have some work to do to win the Championship. We put everything today into winning the Freedom Cup, something that we didn’t play for in my era as a player but the All Blacks have held onto for the last 15 years.”
TOO EMOTIONAL EARLY ON
Erasmus said the players were so keyed up to win the trophy that it impacted on their performance in the early part of the game.
“Maybe we had too much of an emotional start, the guys were feeling the emotion too much. They were up for the battle, but they were not accurate, and that impacted us in the first half in particular,” he said.
What made the Bok win impressive was that, like at Emirates Airlines Park the week before, it was achieved while playing some way beneath their best.
The poor protection of the breakdowns in particular were a concern to Erasmus, although that aspect of the game did get sorted out when the Boks gained more of a physical ascendancy later in the game.
“At the breakdowns the All Blacks completely overshadowed us. That was our big let down and an area of concern in the game,” said Erasmus.
“We had some overthrows by the hooker, that was the problem with the lineouts in the first half. A guy like Ruan was playing only his fourth test and his second against New Zealand. It was a timing issue that was sorted out later. Last week Ruan had Pieter-Steph (du Toit) with him at the start to help with the running of the lineout.
“But it was all on him this week. The All Blacks did their homework there and made us struggle a bit. We also had two really good early scrums and looked like we had the upper hand there, but then the All Blacks came back with three really good scrums of their own.”
DEFENCE WAS OUTSTANDING
On the positive side of the balance sheet, the Bok defence was outstanding, with the All Blacks going through the rare experience of not scoring a single try in the game, with the Boks ending with two.
“We had Handre (Pollard) at flyhalf, and he is a demon on defence, because he defends like a No 12,” said the coach.
“Grant Williams (scrumhalf) is fast and covers both sides of the set phase defensively. They were not the most beautiful tries but we scored two of them. When Cheslin tried to kick that drop-goal, we were a bit put out as at the time we were going for the bonus point try (3-0 in tries would have been a bonus point and put the Boks out of reach in the Championship with two games to play).”
The Boks’ remaining two games are against Argentina, first away and then at home in Nelspruit in three weeks from now.
Erasmus is sending a separate squad to Argentina and keeping another squad at home to prepare for the game at Mbombela Stadium.
“The guys playing the next game know who they are and have already been training together. We will have a three-day break now before gathering in Stellenbosch on Wednesday night.”
RAZOR CONGRATULATES BOKS
Meanwhile All Black coach Scott ‘Razor’ Robinson was disappointed his team did not make use of their opportunities but congratulated the Boks for their win.
“It was a hell of a test match, and congratulations to South Africa for getting it done,” said Robertson.
“They took their opportunities better than us, particularly in the 22. Well done to Siya and Rassie. They did what they needed to do. I think it would be fair to say that not taking opportunities was the difference in both games. We need to learn to finish what we created. It’s small margins in test footy. We have made some great strides but we also still have a lot of things to do.”