The Springboks claimed a thrilling 31-27 victory over the All Blacks at Ellis Park on Saturday to take another step closer to the Rugby Championship title.
Rassie Erasmus’ charges trailed by 10 points with as many minutes remaining before tries from replacements Kwagga Smith and Grant Williams turned the game on its head as 60 000 saw the Boks run out 31-27 winners (half-time 11-12).
This result also enabled the Springboks to consolidate their position at the summit of the world rankings, which they would have conceded if they had lost this fixture.
Winning recipe
The All Blacks scored four tries to three in a match in which the home team held the lead for a total of only nine minutes.
“Whenever we are behind, we never panic,” said Siya Kolisi, who left the field for a head injury assessment and with a suspected fractured cheekbone.
“We have been in far worse positions before and have come back. When they scored first in the second half (to put New Zealand 19-11 ahead) we came together and we said ‘cool, amazing, they’ve scored an intercept try, let’s go to the next set.’ Nobody panicked.
“We have so many cool heads and leaders; if I’m not talking, Eben’s talking or if it’s not him it’s Pieter-Steph or even the young guys with just a couple of caps.
“They’re given the license by the coach to speak because rugby knowledge isn’t measured by the number of caps you have – if you see something, say it. And that’s the great thing about this team today: we never panicked.”
“We have so many cool heads and leaders; if I’m not talking, Eben’s talking or if it’s not him it’s Pieter-Steph or even the young guys with just a couple of caps.
“They’re given the license by the coach to speak because rugby knowledge isn’t measured by the number of caps you have – if you see something, say it. And that’s the great thing about this team today: we never panicked.”
Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus was relieved to come away with a victory and praised the players’ grit against a New Zealand team that controlled the game for long periods.
“I think the guys did really well to pull off a victory against a New Zealand team that played really well and dominated the whole game,” said Erasmus.
“Our boys had a few opportunities but for long spells we were out of the game. They dominated for long periods, but the guys stayed focused and came through.
“At one point they were three tries up and looking like getting five points and our focus was on stopping them getting the bonus point. New Zealand would have been deserving if they had won.”
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