Watch: The miraculous win that saved the Erasmus regime and changed the trajectory of the Springboks
Heading into the All Blacks first clash against the Springboks in 2018, new coach Rassie Erasmus had lost two Rugby Championship games in a row against Argentina and Australia.
With the All Blacks at the top of the rugby world, the expectation was that they would beat South Africa handsomely after previous wins at home of 57-0 in 2017 and 41-13 in 2016. They had not lost at home since 2009 during the stretch of their two World Cup-winning campaigns.
Before the match Rassie Erasmus claimed he was under pressure to retain his job even after committing to SARU on a long term contract.
“Yes‚ I do think so‚” he responded when asked about his prospects diminishing after a defeat to the New Zealanders.
“Maybe I will not be fired immediately but pressure will definitely mount‚” Erasmus said.
“I will probably not be in the seat in the next couple of matches and somebody else will be here.
“For me to survive is very important and if we can beat the All Blacks here‚ everyone will think that there is growth and we have a realistic chance of winning the World Cup next year.
“But‚ if we do badly‚ I can tell you it will be a different story.”
The Springboks started slow out of the blocks with the All Blacks scoring two early tries to Jordie Barrett and Aaron Smith, falling to a 12-0 deficit.
Staring down the gun barrel, the Springboks managed to score two quick tries with Willie Le Roux setting up Aphiwe Dyantyi before grabbing one himself when an ill-advised quick lineout throw went astray.
The Springboks were able to build a 24-17 halftime lead which quickly exploded to 31-17 when debutant Cheslin Kolbe pinched an intercept just minutes into the second half.
The All Blacks kept punching back with tries despite an off-night from Beauden Barrett where 8 points were left on the field through missed kicks.
Down to the last possession of the game, the Springboks clung on to a 2-point lead up 36-34 as the All Blacks pressed their goal line.
The moment would become a massive talking point and criticism of Steve Hansen’s side following the match with the All Blacks’ leadership thrown into question.
https://twitter.com/AliIkram/status/1040898465155342336
Wow!! Congrats to the Boks. The ABs really need to learn you can win by dropping goals it’s not an insult if you use that option #NZLvsRsa
— Sam[uel] Smith (@sgowsmith1988) September 15, 2018
https://twitter.com/TheStroBro/status/1041041059260751872
The All Blacks spread the ball wide in search of a try when a rushing Dyantyi pressured Damian McKenzie, stripping the ball one-on-one and forcing a knock-on.
With unmarked men outside him, the All Blacks would have surely scored but the knock-on ended the game with the clock already well-passed 80-minutes.
The Springboks players immediately became overwhelmed with emotion as they just pulled off what many thought was impossible.
I hope every single South African who joked, criticised and mocked the @Springboks this week eat humble pie and apologise. What an effort. More than 226 tackles. Come on.
— Kyle Cowan (@CowansView) September 15, 2018
I loved Peter-Steph du Toit’s tears. That’s #beingaman #NZLvsRSA #bokke
— Penza (@pedvr) September 15, 2018
Every single statistic points to a massacre. All Blacks had 75% possession, 79% territory. Boks had to make 226 tackles today. All Blacks made 46.
But it wasnt. It was a famous win.
Well done @Springboks #NZvSA— Brenden Nel (@Brendennel) September 15, 2018
One of the greatest & most exciting victories I have ever witnessed by the @Springboks felt like a World Cup final, they showed guts, character and talent to bring it home! Siya Kolisi – take a bow, one hell of a leader! Rassie 🙌 you did it! #NZLvsRSA #RugbyChampionship #Bokke
— Mandi Strimling (@MandiStrimling) September 15, 2018
Hey Springboks, that's how won World Cups, that's how Springboks play. Proud of you boys!
— Dan Retief (@Retief_Dan) September 15, 2018
Just catching up with #NZLvRSA. What a Test match! Some insanely good rugby on both sides. Immense effort from the Springboks. Been a long time coming.
— Andy Burke (@AndyBurke_) September 15, 2018
What the @Springboks did in Wellington is something that should be celebrated as 1 of the most important victories in recent history. Hats off fellaz!!
— Sensei_Juice (@MogulJuice) September 15, 2018
“We just have to respect them a little more…”Ian Foster AB assistant coach. Shouldn’t you respect all your opponents…even if you the ALL BLACKS 🙄#NZLvsRsa
— Eduard Coetzee (@coetzee_eduard) September 15, 2018
Love the emotion of the South African players after the game. What a win. Defence at the end unreal. Gives all the rest some hope against the ABs. Brilliant match 👏🏼👏🏼#NZLvsRsa
— Shane Murphy (@smurphser) September 15, 2018
All Black coach Steve Hansen said his side’s dressing room was in a sombre mood following the defeat with the pain of the loss setting in.
“Any time you lose, of course it hurts,” Hansen said after the match.
“The dressing room’s very somber, very quiet.
“It doesn’t happen very often – but it’s important we learn something from it, otherwise it’s a waste of time.”
One of the Springbok heroes from the win, Willie Le Roux, said the embattled side had been playing for the support of the people back home in order to restore national pride in the Springboks.
“We said the whole week, us 23 guys playing, management, all the guys travelling with, training against us, it’s about putting the pride back in the jersey,” he said.
“It’s about making the people back home proud.”
Erasmus said they had been targetting this game to prove their World Cup credentials as ‘nobody beats them there’.
“We could have lost this game in the last minute, so we were a bit lucky,” said Erasmus.
“But we are very relieved and very proud to beat New Zealand in New Zealand.
“Our big thing was, and all respect to New Zealand, when we started the planning we said one way of coming back [from a couple of poor seasons] was beating New Zealand in New Zealand and that was months ago.
“When we lost those two games in a row, you do lose some belief, but we always targeted this game to turn things around and be real contenders at the World Cup.”
Comments on RugbyPass
Both nations missed a great opportunity to book a game that would have had a lot of interest from around the world. I understand these games can’t be organised in 5 minutes but they should have found a way to make it happen. I don’t think Wales are ducking anyone but it’s a bad look haha.
3 Go to commentsIt will be fascinating to see the effect that Jo Yapp has. If they can compete with Canada and give BFs a run for their money that will be progress
1 Go to commentsFollowing his dream and putting in the work. Go well young fella!
3 Go to commentsPerhaps filling Twickenham is one of Mitchell’s KPIs. I doubt whether both September matches will be at Twickenham on consecutive weekends. I would take the BF one to a large provincial stadium so as not to give them the advantage and experience of playing at Twickenham before a large crowd prior to the RWC.
1 Go to commentsvery unfortunate for Kitshoff, but big opportunity potentially for Nché to prove he is genuinely the best loosehead in the world, rather than just a specialist finisher. Presuming that if Kitshoff is out, it will also give Steenekamp a chance to come into the 23? Or are others likely to be ahead of him?
1 Go to commentsA long held question in popular culture asks if art imitates life or does the latter influence the former? Over this 6 nations I can ask the same question of the media influencing the thoughts of its audience or vice versa. Nobody wants to see cricket scores in rugby, as a spectacle it is not sustainable. With so many articles about England’s procession and lack of competition it feeds the epicaricacy of many looking for an opportunity to pounce. England are not the first team to dominate nor does it happen only in rugby, think Federer, Nadal, Red Bull or Mercedes, Manchester Utd, Australia in tests and World Cups. Instead of celebrating the achievements why find reasons to falsify it pointing towards larger playing pool, professional for a longer period or mitigate with the lack of growth in other nations. Can we not enjoy it while it is here and know that it won’t last for ever, others coveting what England have will soon take the crown, ask the aforementioned?
6 Go to commentsShame he won’t turn out for the Netherlands now they’re improving. U20s are Euro champs and in the U20 Trophy this year. The senior sides gets better every year too.
3 Go to commentsWill rugbypass tv be showing these games?
1 Go to commentsWell where do you start, the fact that England have a professional domestic league and Ireland’s is fully amatuer, that they have fully seperated professional squads at Fifteens and Sevens (7’s thinly disguised as GB), and Ireland have fully pro Sevens squad who loan some players back to the Semi-Professional Fifteens squad (moved from amateur for only a year or so) for a few games at 6N & RWC’s. The Women’s games is a shambles, and is at risk of killing itself by pushing for professionalism when the market isn’t really there to support it outside one or two countnries..
6 Go to commentsWayne Smith's input didn't have as much impact on the last final as Davison's red card for Thompson. England were 14 points up and flying when that happened.
6 Go to commentsBilly's been playing consistently well for 2 - 3 seasons now and deserves a look in at the top level. Ioane and ALB are still first choice but there needs to be injury cover and succession. His partnership with Jordie gives him first dibs you'd think. Go the Hurricanes.
3 Go to commentsIt’s not up to Wales to support Georgian Rugby. That’s up to International Rugby and Georgia. I sympathise with Georgia’s decent attempt to create this fixture. But for Wales the proposed match up is just a potential stick to beat them with and a potential big psychological blow that young Welsh team doesn’t need. (I’m Irish BTW.)
3 Go to commentsCale certainly looks great in space, but as you say, he has struggled in contact. At 23 years old, turning 24 this year, he should be close to full physical maturity and yet there exists a considerable gap in the power and physicality required for international rugby. Weight doesn’t automatically equate to power and physicality either. Can he go from a player who’s being physically dominated in Super rugby to physically dominating in international rugby in 1 or 2 years? That’s a big ask but he may end up being a late bloomer.
28 Go to commentsIf rugby wants to remain interesting in the AI era then it will need to work on changing the rules. AI will reduce the tactical advantage of smart game plans, will neutralize primary attacking weapons, and will move rugby from a being a game of inches to a game of millimetres. It will be about sheer athleticism and technique,about avoiding mistakes, and about referees. Many fans will find that boring. The answer is to add creative degrees of freedom to the game. The 50-22 is an example. But we can have fun inventing others, like the right to add more players for X minutes per game, or the equivalent of the 2-point conversion in American football, the ability to call a 12-player scrum, etc. Not saying these are great ideas, but making the point that the more of these alternatives you allow, the less AI will be able to lock down high-probability strategies. This is not because AI does not have the compute power, but because it has more choices and has less data, or less-specific data. That will take time and debate, but big, positive and immediate impact could be in the area of ref/TMO assistance. The technology is easily good enough today to detect forward passes, not-straight lineouts, offside at breakdown/scrum/lineout, obstruction, early/late tackles, and a lot of other things. WR should be ultra aggressive in doing this, as it will really help in an area in which the game is really struggling. In the long run there needs to be substantial creativity applied to the rules. Without that AI (along with all of the pro innovations) will turn rugby into a bash fest.
24 Go to commentsSouth Africa rarely play Ireland and France on these tours. Mostly, England, Scotland and Wales. I wonder why
2 Go to commentsIt was a let’s-see-what-you're-made-of type of a game. The Bulls do look good when the opposition allows them to, but Munster shut them down, and they could not find a way through. Jake should be very worried about their chances in the competition.
2 Go to commentsHats off to Fabian for a very impressive journey to date. Is it as ‘uniquely unlikely’ as Rugby Pass suggests, given Anton Segner’s journey at the Blues?
3 Go to commentsSad that this was not confirmed. When administrators talk about expanding the game they evidently don’t include pathways to the top tier of rugby for teams outside of the old boys club. Rugby deserves better, and certainly Georgia does.
3 Go to commentsLions might take him on if they move on Van Rooyen but I doubt he will want to go back, might consider it a step backwards for himself. Sharks would take him on but if Plumtree goes on to win the challenge cup they will keep him on. Also sharks showing some promising signs recently. Stormers and Bulls are stable and Springboks are already filled up. Quality coach though, interesting to see where he ends up
1 Go to commentsAnd the person responsible for creating a culture of accountability is?
3 Go to comments