The Boks opened their Rugby Championship marketing campaign in emphatic trend with a dominant victory over the All Blacks in Nelspruit on Saturday, and already appears to be like to be odds-on favourites for the southern hemisphere title.
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The All Blacks will drop to fifth on World Rugby’s Test rankings, whereas the Boks have solely managed to shut the hole on second-placed France and can stay in third place.
If you missed any of the motion, you’ll be able to make amends for all the important thing match footage and reaction beneath:
Boks grateful for rousing help in Nelspruit
Springbok captain Siya Kolisi paid tribute to the staff’s followers after the Boks’ record-breaking win over New Zealand within the opening Test of the Rugby Championship on the Mbombela Stadium on Saturday.
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The Springboks’ 26-10 victory (halftime 10-3) was by the most important margin (16 factors) since South Africa returned from worldwide isolation in 1992. It is the second largest of all time.
The earlier biggest win post-isolation was a 14-point victory (40-26) in Johannesburg in 2004. The largest Springbok victory of all time was a 17-0 victory in Durban in 1928.
Kolisi stated: “I just don’t know how South African people do it.
“The way they turn up with everything that’s going on in our country. People who can still afford it, still come along and still full up the stadium for us and it means the world to us as a team.
“Running out and hearing people screaming like that it drives us as a team. That’s what Jacques [Nienaber] always reminds us: ‘it’s not about me’. If I make a mistake, I must keep on going because it’s about the people who are coming each and every time to watch us play.
“I hope we made them proud today, because they definitely got us going from the anthem onwards.”
The Boks scored two tries to one – from wing Kurt-Lee Arendse within the eighth minute and from substitute again Willie le Roux within the 80th – whereas Handre Pollard had a flawless day with the boot, kicking two conversions in addition to three penalty objectives and a drop aim for 16 of the factors.
Nienaber stated: “We spoke about it in the week and all we asked was to pitch up with intensity and try and be accurate in what we had planned, and I thought we did it well.”
However, the coach believes there’s extra to come: “I don’t suppose we’re the completed product but.
“We did a good assessment after the Wales series. I think we have improved; I think we have built on stuff that we thought there wasn’t good growth in the Wales series. I think we are slowly really building our game, but I don’t think it is the finished product yet.”
Kolisi added that the consequence was just one step in an extended marketing campaign: “It feels good tonight, but we know the Championship is not done yet,” he stated.
“We have five more games to go but the next important one is next week. But to win tonight in front of a crowd like that was very special.”
Nienaber had a particular phrase for reward for hooker Malcolm Marx who was named Man of the Match on his 50th Test as a Springbok.
“I thought he was outstanding – and that’s Malcolm,” stated Nienaber.
“He is the guy that exemplifies what a Springbok should be. He is a warrior; a guy who had to work hard to get where he is; he had to make the change from loose forward to hooker – so he really had to work hard to get where he is.
“I have worked with him since he was an Under-20 in 2014 and it is phenomenal to see what a guy he has become. This was a milestone game and hopefully it will prepare the road going forward for him for the next 50 test matches.”
The Springboks reconvene in opposition to the All Blacks at Emirates Airline Park in Johannesburg on Saturday.