Former Springbok Steven Kitshoff believes in 2017 Dublin disaster served as the catalyst for the current era in Bok rugby.
Speaking to News24, Kitshoff vividly recalls the 38-3 mauling the Springboks suffered at the hands of Ireland in Dublin back in 2017. While a painful memory, the former loosehead prop insists it became a turning point that shaped the green and gold into the world-beating force they are today.
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The Springboks, then under Allister Coetzee, visited the Aviva Stadium on Lansdowne Road on 11 November 2017, captained by lock Eben Etzebeth. In front of 51,000 fans, South Africa was outplayed in all facets, with the Irish claiming revenge for their 2-1 series defeat in South Africa the previous year.
“It wasn’t great,” Kitshoff said.
“As a team, we struggled at that stage in 2017 – it was a tough day. In 2016, we had just beaten Ireland in South Africa to clinch the series 2-1, so going into that game, we were not too confident. We had a couple of big losses leading up to that.
“But we still wanted to prove a point and show that we are the Springboks. Within the first minute of the game, Coenie Oosthuizen hurt his knee, and we were just on the back foot for 80 minutes. It wasn’t a fun game to play in. We were chasing our tails; we didn’t look like we knew what we were doing. We were outplayed by a strong Irish team that was on the up.”
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For Kitshoff and his teammates, the Dublin defeat ranks alongside the 57-0 loss to the All Blacks in Albany that same year as one of their lowest points. But he believes the lessons learned were invaluable.
“For us, it was one of our lowest moments as a Springbok team, and we learned a lot from it as a country. That experience shaped us going forward and set the tone for the incredible success that followed under Rassie Erasmus.”
Photo: Eóin Noonan/Sportsfile via Getty Images
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