The Springboks were allowed to play with freedom and that helped them clinch a record 43-10 win over the All Blacks, according to Siya Kolisi.
Springbok captain Siya Kolisi praised the team’s coaching group in having belief in them and giving them the freedom to play their game, that led to a record 43-10 win over the All Blacks in their Rugby Championship match in Wellington on Saturday.
After a wasteful first half that saw the Boks trailing 10-7 at the break despite having numerous chances, they kicked into high gear in the second 40, throwing caution to the wind as an incredible attacking performance saw them run in five tries and 36 unanswered points to cruise to a monster win.
Kolisi said that they weren’t expecting such a big win, but that the team were just focused on doing their job, and the belief the coaches had in them to execute helped them run away with the game in the end.
Focused on the job
“We were just focused on the job at hand. I think where our coaches are so good, is the freedom that they gave us and the freedom that they gave to the backs. They said shoot your shot, and don’t be afraid if you make a mistake,” said Kolisi after the match.
“There were a couple of times where the ball went out, or there was a knock on when we had an overlap, and nobody panicked and we just stuck to our guns. That gives us confidence and freedom to play.
“This was a big game, whether we liked it or not, and coach (Erasmus) was willing to back guys that hadn’t played a lot. In doing that he showed us he believed in us and just told us to keep on believing in ourselves as a team, and I think that was really important.
“Also the guys that didn’t play, the pictures they showed us (in training). You become the opposition in the week that is important (in preparing us for the match), and what keeps us so tight as a team. It’s the effort that all the guys who don’t play put in and that helped us.”
Injury disruptions
Over the match the Boks lost five players, four permanently, but despite those disruptions, they kept calm and the players that came on during the game stepped up massively, to assist in the amazing win.
In the first half Lood de Jager went off injured within the first 10 minutes, replaced by RG Snyman, and in the 18th Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu went off for an HIA that he failed, replaced by Manie Libbok.
Cobus Reinach went off for an HIA check in the 32nd minute, with Grant Williams coming on, but returned at the start of the second half, while Aphelele Fassi went off with a leg injury in the 37th minute, replaced by Andre Esterhuizen.
Double try scorer Cheslin Kolbe then picked up an injury in the 47th minute, with Williams replacing him and playing on the wing the rest of the match.
“We always say it doesn’t matter who plays in the team, we don’t panic if someone gets hurt. Like for me, I was finished (when I was replaced in the 58th minute), by that time,” explained Kolisi.
“People sometimes ask why am I going off, but I’m not worried about that because I know when Kwagga (Smith) comes on he will bring something different to what I did.
“That’s the trust and belief we have in each other as a group, because of the efforts we put in our training sessions in the week. Every guy who gets chosen, we all have belief in each other, because we have seen what we can do in training.
“Our training sessions are intense and this week was different. So that’s where we get our belief in each other from, from training.”
