Springboks coach Rassie Erasmus admitted that conceding four tries annoyed him after a comeback Rugby Championship victory over New Zealand.

Springboks coach Rassie Erasmus admitted that conceding four tries annoyed him after a 31-27 comeback Rugby Championship victory over New Zealand in Johannesburg on Saturday.

‘RESULT COULD HAVE GONE EITHER WAY’ – RASSIE ERASMUS

“We gave them a couple of easy tries, and their turnover attack hurt us the most when our defence was not quite set,” he told a press conference.

“But we defended really well when things were structured,” added Rassie Erasmus, who played key roles in the 2019 and 2023 Rugby World Cup victories of the Springboks.

“If the All Blacks had won the Test then they would have deserved it. We know the result could have gone the other way, we could easily have lost. But our character was there.”

New Zealand coach Scott Robertson bemoaned moments of ill-discipline as South Africa overturned a 10-point deficit in the final 12 minutes with Kwagga Smith and Grant Williams scoring tries.

The All Blacks, beaten 12-11 by the Springboks in the 2023 World Cup final in Paris, had looked likely winners in Johannesburg, outscoring the hosts by four tries to one at one stage.

ILL-DISCIPLINE

New Zealand coach Scott Robertson said: “I am so proud of the effort and the way we defended, it was just a little bit of ill-discipline by the lads that cost us.

“But those are the fine margins in Test footy. Some of the penalties were down to a bit of interpretation, but those small moments lead to a bit of momentum and the game changes.

“We still had opportunities to win the game, we have just got to execute better. Ellis Park is a hell of an arena – what an atmosphere tonight and the crowd really gets involved.

“But that is where we thrive, we love those moments.”

Seeking a second Rugby Championship title, South Africa have 14 points from three victories. New Zealand trail with six points after two losses.

Argentina have four points, from a shock win in New Zealand, and Australia are pointless ahead of their match in La Plata later on Saturday.

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Siya Kolisi pinpoints the crucial factor in the Springboks win over the All Blacks

Springboks captain Siya Kolisi has said the ‘cool heads’ of fellow leaders Eben Etzebeth and Pieter-Steph du Toit helped his side clinch a comeback win over arch-rivals New Zealand. 

Kolisi’s side were behind by 10 points heading into the final 15 minutes, but a late onslaught of 14 unanswered points at the end helped South Africa maintain their perfect start to the Rugby Championship.

“We never panic”

Speaking to the media after the game, Kolisi was quick to praise the composure of his side in the final exchanges.

“Whenever we are behind, we never panic,” he said. “We have been in far worse positions before and have come back.”

“When they scored first in the second-half (Jordie Barrett’s intercept try) we came together and we said ‘cool, amazing, they’ve scored an intercept try, let’s go to the next set.’ Nobody panicked.”

After a tight first-half, the All Blacks raced into a 27-17 lead thanks to scores from Barrett and Caleb Clarke, but the impact of the infamous ‘bomb squad’ swung the game back towards the Springboks, and tries from Kwagga Smith and Grant Williams secured a bonus point win at Ellis Park.

“We have so many cool heads”

Kolisi is the figurehead leader of this Springboks side, but he is also blessed to have seasoned internationals like Eben Etzebeth and Pieter-Steph du Toit alongside him; and he was quick to praise his fellow forwards for keeping the team calm in those tense final minutes.

“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.”

Title aspirations?

The win at Ellis Park was the Springboks third in the Rugby Championship, and they sit eight points clear of the All Blacks at the top of the table.

There is still a long way to go if they hope to lift their first title since 2019, and they still have to play New Zealand again next weekend too, but head coach Rassie Erasmus detailed how he would ‘love’ to win it this year.

“Winning the Rugby Championship is very important, and I would definitely love to win it, but we will definitely move players around next week and hopefully they make it, but we won’t get ahead of ourselves.”

Despite having title aspirations, Erasmus is fully focused on securing a win over the All Blacks next weekend first before thinking about that.

“Everything didn’t go right today, and we’ll have a look at why we didn’t get out of our half at stages and why we didn’t capitalise on chances a few times. Our focus is only on next week.”

If the Springboks do claim a victory next weekend in Cape Town, they would also claim their first Freedom Cup since 2009.