Rugby
‘We respect them immensely as a team’ – Erasmus─── MORGAN PIEK 08:22 Mon, 09 Sep 2024
“Tony Brown put the haka and the way they think into perspective for us as a group, and that helped us understand them better and play better.”
The Springboks are just one win away from claiming the Rugby Championship title for the first time since 2019.
On Saturday, the Springboks again came from behind at the Cape Town Stadium to beat the All Blacks 18-12 for back-to-back victories against their great rivals. In addition, it was their fourth consecutive victory against the All Blacks. The Boks will be heading to Argentina now where they will tackle the Pumas in Santiago del Estero next week.
The Springbok coach, Rassie Erasmus, said while they were able to claim consecutive wins against the All Blacks, they still hold their fierce rivals in very high regard. “We respect them immensely as a team,” said Erasmus.
Tony Brown. Picture: Morgan Piek
“Tony Brown put the haka and the way they think into perspective for us as a group, and that helped us understand them better and play better.
“It’s important to understand what winning four consecutive games against them means, but they’ve beaten us many times in a row too and achieved so much, so it’s not something to brag about, but it feels good.
‘We wanted to win this badly for South Africa’
“For us, we spoke a lot about the Freedom Cup this week, and it means a lot for South Africa with where we are now. We wanted to win this badly for South Africa. This was also good for our hopes of winning the Rugby Championship, but we still have some work to do in that regard.”
Meanwhile, Argentina kept their chances alive of winning the Rugby Championship after thrashing the Wallabies 67-27 in Santa Fe.
The Springboks are off until Wednesday before assembling in Stellenbosch to prepare for the away and home Tests against the Pumas.
