Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus said he knows what it feels like to suffer a heavy defeat following their record win over the All Blacks.
Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus sympathised with the All Blacks after his team dealt them a record 43-10 beating in Wellington over the weekend, saying that he had experienced his own fair share of heavy losses in his playing and coaching career.
It was the biggest loss in the All Blacks history and the fact that the beating came at home against their fiercest rivals, the Springboks, must make it sting even more.
The Boks themselves suffered their biggest defeat at the hands of the All Blacks, a 57-0 drubbing in Albany, New Zealand, back in 2017, that was arguably the beginning of the end of previous coach Allister Coetzee’s rein, with Erasmus taking over as head coach the following year.
While Erasmus admitted the result in Wellington was nice, it wasn’t something that they would dwell on, and put it into perspective considering the number of inexperienced players that featured for the hosts.
“We gave our best today. There is huge trust and belief in each other. The scoreline is nice but it is more about what we are trying to achieve (as a team),” explained Erasmus after the match.
“I know what it feels like in the change room on the other side. I don’t think we need to dwell on it (the scoreline). New Zealand didn’t rub last week’s win at Eden Park in our faces, so we’ll really enjoy tonight (Saturday), but that’s it.
“The truth is they had eight players with less than 10 caps and we only had two. We have been building and giving guys chances at certain stages (this season). Guys put up their hands and showed they can do it. We’re just glad we got the five points and are still in the mix for the Rugby Championship.”
Unconvincing year
It hadn’t been a convincing year for the Boks in the lead up to the match at the “Cake Tin” and it was actually an incredibly important game to keep their Rugby Championship hopes alive, while also reviving a season that was teetering on the brink.
They had arguably only had two really strong performances, against the Barbarians (54-7 win) and Italy (45-0 win), while their other wins over Italy (first Test), Georgia and the Wallabies (in Cape Town) were unconvincing.
They had also suffered two losses, against Australia at Ellis Park and the All Blacks at Eden Park, which is the same number of losses they had suffered over the entire 2024 season.
It was thus a brilliant performance to overturn their defeat from a week earlier, into a record win, but Erasmus claimed the performance wasn’t about trying to prove any sceptics wrong.
“This victory wasn’t about proving people wrong. We play to get people to believe in us and to keep on believing in South Africa. They trust us to give our best, and we did that,” said Erasmus.
The Boks now have a chance of winning back to back Rugby Championship titles, if they can win both games against Argentina, while hoping that the All Blacks and Wallabies share the spoils in their two matches coming up.
