Mbombela — The perhaps worrying message for the All Blacks from the Springboks is that they are keeping the champagne corked until after this week’s second Test between the rivals in Johannesburg.
While the Boks were certainly smiling after they had beaten the Kiwis 26-10 at a bubbling Mbombela Stadium, they were not celebrating and both coach Jacques Nienaber and captain Siya Kolisi said their job is not yet complete.
Kolisi, who pre-game had said his team desperately wanted to win their first home match against the All Blacks since they got together as a group in 2018, said: “The job is not done yet, we set goals after the series against Wales of winning back-to-back series against the All Blacks and also addressing our record against the Wallabies overseas, so there is plenty of work ahead of us in the Rugby Championship, but yes, we are very pleased to have won in front of a fantastic crowd at Mbombela.
𝐎𝐅𝐅 𝐓𝐎 𝐀 𝐅𝐋𝐘𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐑𝐓 ✈
🇿🇦 Willie le Roux seals it for the Springboks as they run out 26-10 victors over New Zealand 🏉 pic.twitter.com/GMKHVEKZ7T
“I don’t know how the people of South Africa do it with their incredible support for us with everything that is going on in our country.... the atmosphere was unbelievable and as players, we are reminded that it is never about us and the odd mistake we make here and there, or the good things we might do as individuals, but it is all about the people who come out and how we overall as a team can pay them back.”
New Zealand’s coach and captain, Ian Foster and Sam Cane respectively, were pictures of defeat when they faced the media.
“The Springboks are an awesome rugby team, they are extremely good at what they do and we could not always deal with it,” Cane said. “They were very clinical and they squeezed us out of the game.”
IOL Sport