Erasmus keeps Boks grounded after record win over All Blacks

Although the Springboks pulled off an impressive 43-10 victory over New Zealand in Wellington on Saturday, coach Rassie Erasmus was quick to remind his side that they have “achieved nothing” yet, with two crucial clashes against Argentina still to come.

The result marked the All Blacks’ biggest defeat in history, lifted the Boks back to No.1 in the world rankings, and saw them retain the Freedom Cup. It was also their third consecutive unbeaten Test at Sky Stadium, following a win in 2018 and a draw in 2019.

Erasmus: 'We’ve achieved nothing'

Erasmus welcomed the historic result but emphasised the need for perspective.

“We’ve been on the other side of such a result when we lost 57-0 against them, and they managed to retain their win record at Eden Park and didn’t throw it in our faces, but we’ll take this win, and we are very happy with the result,” he said.

He praised the squad’s depth and the impact of those who had stepped in. “We are pleased with the performance and the way the guys who didn’t play prepared this team for what to expect. It was certainly pleasing to see how these players raised their hands and demonstrated that they can perform at this level.

“We do have a couple of injuries, which we do not know the extent of yet, but the two that appear to be serious are Lood (de Jager) and Aphelele (Fassi).”

Erasmus added that the biggest goal was restoring confidence. “The main thing for us going into this game was to get the belief in the team back again, and we are back at No.1 in the world, but we know we are going to face two tough matches against Argentina, who have really been playing well.”

He stressed that the team’s motivation comes from their supporters. “As a team, we want our people to believe in us because we see and feel what they do for us, and everyone back home trusts us to do our best. For us, it is never about proving people wrong.”

Kolisi on trust and belief

Bok skipper Siya Kolisi echoed his coach’s approach, crediting the management for allowing the players to play with freedom.

“The coaches allowed us the freedom to be ourselves on the field,” said Kolisi. “They’ve been saying all week that we should not worry about making mistakes, we just had to stick to our structures and to believe in ourselves.”

Kolisi also highlighted the squad’s unity. “They picked guys who haven’t been playing a lot, and the regular players stuck behind them all the way, and that contributes to us being tight as a team.”

Focus shifts to Argentina

While the All Blacks’ defeat was a milestone, Erasmus reminded everyone that the Rugby Championship remains wide open.

“We’ve achieved nothing,” he said. “Everyone is still in the competition, and we will still have to face a well-drilled Argentina outfit in the next few weeks.

“We made a few errors in the first 30 minutes, and we have no doubt New Zealand will pick themselves up from this result. We’ll enjoy this one and start looking at Argentina from tomorrow.”

The Springboks will return home on Sunday and reconvene in camp on Thursday to prepare for the final two rounds of the tournament.