Damian Willemse says the Springboks corrected their mistakes from last week as they romped to victory over the All Blacks in Wellington on Saturday.
The Boks ran in six tries in a 43-10 win – the All Blacks’ biggest-ever defeat – to bounce back from a 24-17 loss at Eden Park and keep their Rugby Championship title hopes alive.
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Backline injuries saw Willemse switch from inside centre to fullback early in the Test, but he says the team remained focused despite that disruption.
“We had a very positive mindset. After reviewing last week’s game, we knew exactly where we went wrong. Our conversion rate in the [opposition] 22 let us down last week, and tonight we were much more clinical.
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“Credit to the boys who’ve been on those laptops making plans, and credit to the coaching staff for stepping up and helping us.”
Freedom Cup retained
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Willemse dedicated the win to former Springbok fullback Bevin Fortuin, who passed away on Thursday.
“This performance was for Bevin, a personal friend of mine, as well as for coach Rassie [Erasmus] who had been taking a lot of shots and backing us.
“We knew it would come. Credit to the boys – they stepped up and played a fantastic game of rugby.”
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Photo: Hagen Hopkins/Getty Images
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