Rassie Erasmus said former All Blacks flyhalf Tony Brown has been key in helping the Springboks get the edge over their arch-rivals following the streak-setting win in Cape Town. DYLAN JACK reports.
Another epic comeback victory in Cape Town saw the Springboks set a new streak against their rivals in the professional era, while also returning the Freedom Cup to South Africa for the first time since 2009.
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The Springboks have now won four games in a row against the All Blacks, going back to the record-breaking victory in the World Cup warm-up match at Twickenham.
Speaking after the match, Erasmus credited assistant coach Brown for giving the Boks a new perspective on New Zealand.
“Because it’s the All Blacks, it’s special,” Erasmus said. “I think we are 20 out of 23 games now. Out of the last 23 games, we have won 20. There have been some great wins.
“There have been a lot of games that we have won by one point. So we are very realistic about where we are. A lot of those games could’ve gone against us.
“We respect these guys unbelievably. Tony gave us a perspective on the All Blacks, which told us a lot about the things we didn’t understand. It makes us play better.
“We always respected them, but now we have a better understanding of how they think, from the haka, to their individual players and the make-up of their team, how they do things. It’s quite amazing what he told us.”
While South Africans will undoubtedly goad their Kiwi counterparts with the new winning streak, Erasmus was more measured about it.
“It’s important to understand that, for us, four wins is something that’s nice to have, but also they have beaten us six times in a row, in games that we were part of,” Erasmus said. “There’s nothing to brag about.
“It feels good that we can pip a team like this again, like last weekend. The way they had played, if they had won, nobody could say they didn’t deserve it.
“For us, really, this week the talk was about the Freedom Cup. I know we talk a lot about and say a lot about South Africa, but it was special to win this one. Not necessarily for the Rugby Championship – there is still a lot of work to do – but the Freedom Cup is very important for us.
“The players were a bit too emotional when we started. We were on it, but we weren’t accurate. After half time, we calmed a little bit and played a bit better.
“The Freedom Cup was the thing we won today. The four wins in a row, they have so many records that they can brag about, so we won’t ponder on that for too long.”
Photo: Ashley Vlotman/Gallo Images
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