Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus reiterated the team’s motivation in the wake of a 43-28 victory over New Zealand to claim the inaugural Castle Double Malt Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry title in Baltimore.
The Boks scored six tries to four to clinch the series 3-1 in front of a USA rugby record crowd of more than 68 000 – the majority of whom appeared to be expatriate South Africans.
“It was awesome to see so many South Africans here; I don’t how they afford it or how they got here, but it’s great,” said Erasmus.
“We appreciate the people who were here, but we don’t forget the people who were at home; the people in the farm or the boy in the township or the people in the shopping mall. That’s what drives us.
“Obviously we want to win and that’s great for us as a team and that’s why we play rugby, but we want them to be happy.”
The win confirmed the world ranked number status of the back-to-back world champions, which Erasmus conceded was not always easy for others to accept.
“I know we sometimes annoy other people around the world for the way go about things, or the angle we take on issues, but we really care the most about South African people,” he said.
“We enjoy the other people around the world, and we understand their opinions and love the banter, but there’s only one reason for us as a team and for us as a country, it’s for South Africa.”
Bok captain Siya Kolisi also acknowledged the Boks’ global fan base: “The support is really special for us – that’s who we do it for; the people who can afford to come here and those who are at home.
“Because there was a long stoppage [for referee audio problems], we were still in the zone, but my goodness, but in that moment, you get to appreciate the crowd singing and enjoying the environment and hopefully we have made it special for them.”
The match was in the balance until the final quarter and although the Springboks won three successive matches to claim the title, Erasmus said the margins between the teams were minimal.
“I wouldn’t say we were the better team [today],” said Erasmus. “At 60 minutes the game was still in the balance. We appreciate that we won but the margin between us and New Zealand is very small.”
The teams shared a moment of prayer after the final whistle. Kolisi said: “We came together to thank each other. We go hard against each other, but we get along off the field.
“The way the New Zealanders came to our country and embraced our country and the way they gave themselves to people in our country; we came together to thank them for that. It’s tough that one team has to win and one team has to lose but we know we are going to see each other again.”