The Springboks bounced back in the second Test of the Castle Double Malt Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry series, beating New Zealand’s All Blacks 33–26 in front of more than 56,000 cheering supporters in Cape Town on Saturday afternoon.
The victory helped the team level the four-match series at 1–1 following last weekend’s loss in Johannesburg and ensured that they returned to the number one spot in the world rankings, with New Zealand at number two.
Jesse Kriel, Damian de Allende and captain Siya Kolisi scored the team’s tries, while man of the match Cheslin Kolbe converted all three tries and kicked four penalties.
It was a day to remember, too, for Pieter-Steph du Toit and Ox Nche, as they celebrated their milestone 100th and 50th caps with a good win.
Meanwhile, despite the win, Springboks coach Rassie Erasmus said the team still needed to improve ahead of the third match.
“I don’t want to be technical about the edge defence, but they have really smart players, and they are two classes up from what they were last year.
“This week we did a lot of things much better, and I can tell you now that this is not the same New Zealand team we played last year.
“We must make sure we’re not comfortable after this win and think we’re all good again because there were things we didn’t do well,” said Erasmus.
Captain Siya Kolisi, who missed last week’s match due to injury, heaped praise on the coaching staff’s instructions ahead of the match.
“They come and they just look: these are the mistakes we made, and this is what we can do.
“And we’ve been here before. It’s not like the first time. The majority of us have lost the first game in the World Cup; we have lost and we’ve been able to come back,” remarked Kolisi.
The third Test will take place at FNB Stadium in Nasrec on Saturday evening.
