‘We gave it everything,’ says Siya after Boks’ record win against All Blacks

The Springboks put in an incredibly hard week of training and then gave it everything that they could as they powered to a record 35-7 win over the All Blacks in their final Rugby World Cup warm-up match at Twickenham on Friday night.

For the second week in a row the Boks walked away with a record win, after they claimed their biggest (52-16) win over the Welsh in Cardiff last weekend, before following that up with their biggest win ever over the All Blacks, beating out the 17-0 result picked up in Durban in 1928.

ALSO READ: ‘This is not a friendly’ – Kolisi fired up for full strength All Blacks

In fact, such was the Boks’ dominance that it was the All Blacks’ biggest ever loss in their history, eclipsing the 21-point margin defeats of 28-7 and 47-26 against Australia in 1999 and 2019.

Incredible turnaround

It is an incredible turnaround after the Boks were blown out the water in the first 20 minutes on their way to a heavy 35-20 defeat in the Rugby Championship just last month, although they were assisted by a 38^th minute red card to All Blacks lock Scott Barrett.

“We worked hard because we knew what happened the last time we played them (in Auckland). We had said (in the week) that you’re not just going to come to Twickenham with 82,000 people and hold anything back,” explained Bok captain Siya Kolisi after the match.

“Most of us will never get this opportunity again to play (the All Blacks) on a neutral ground. So we said we are going to give it everything and we are not going to die wondering. We knew how hard they would come at us and we had to work hard the entire match.

“Even though they had less men (because of the red card) they still kept on fighting because they are a champion side, so we gave it everything we could and we didn’t hold back. But we still have a lot of work to do.”

Forward driven

It was an outstanding forward driven performance that set up the massive win as the Boks demolished the All Blacks in the scrums, mauls and at the lineouts, which gave the backs the perfect platform to play off.

Three tries were scored off of strong rolling mauls, one was from some big pick and go’s after a lineout and there was also an intercept try to wing Kurt-Lee Arendse.

“We knew we had to start up front with the forwards and then our backs are special and they can do what they need to do. In the last game (in Auckland) we couldn’t do that in the first 20 minutes, so this time we had to focus hard on having an intens start to make sure we had momentum,” said Kolisi.

“So I am proud of the boys, but the hard work starts now. The job is not done. We have got to go and defend the World Cup in France and everybody that plays against us is going to want to beat us.

“Whether we are favourites or not, we are going out there to play as hard as we can and hopefully return home with the cup.”