Captain Siya Kolisi says belief and a fearless mindset drove the Springboks to their record 43-10 victory over New Zealand in Wellington.
Trailing 10-7 at half time, the Boks scored five second-half tries to claim their biggest-ever win against the All Blacks, retain the Freedom Cup and return to the top of the World Rugby rankings.
“We played fearlessly,” Kolisi said. “We said before [the game] we were not going to hold back, we knew what we need to do. And we believed in ourselves, that was the most important.”
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The captain added that younger teammates were urged to embrace the stage.
“We told guys like Sacha [Feinberg-Mngomezulu] we are not boxing, do what’s in your skillset and go 100%. That is what we did today.”
Beyond the margin of victory, Kolisi emphasised the importance of staying alive in the Rugby Championship race. The Boks are second on the log with 10 points, just one behind the Wallabies, with two matches against Argentina to come.
“All we wanted was the win. We are happy that we showed the fight to get back into the running, that is all that matters to us.”
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Kolisi closed by highlighting the squad’s collective effort.
“I have to give credit to my boys, we didn’t give up, and to the coach for giving players an opportunity in a game like this.
“It’s a squad effort, everyone else was talking about a young team, how do you give a young team experience, you get them to play. Thank you to them and all the guys who didn’t get the opportunity to play in New Zealand.”
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Photo: Joe Allison/Getty Images
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