South Africans celebrated their 16-all draw against New Zealand in Wellington on Saturday like it was a win.
Coach Rassie Erasmus’s charges escaped defeat when Herschel Jantjies scored a last-minute try to make it 16-all and now have a chance to win the Rugby Championship for the first time since its expansion from the Tri-Nations in 2012.
But Erasmus knows they were lucky, with the All Blacks dominating them in the second half.
%%%twitter https://twitter.com/AllBlacks?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@AllBlacksand @springboks played out a dramatic 16-16 draw in Wellington, with the result only the fourth time the sides have been locked at full-time. pic.twitter.com/2kebJ0ekFs
— Super Rugby/TRC (@SuperRugby)
He says: “To play the No.1 team in the world and be lucky at the end there...
“To come away with a draw, I guess we’re satisfied with that.
“The first 35 minutes we played very well while they totally dominated the second half. So fairly lucky, in a big way.
“We certainly take a lot of positives out of this because they are the world’s No 1 team, they’re the benchmark and we all strive to be where they are.
HAPPY-GO-LUCKY: Bok boss Erasmus. Photo: Craig Brough/Reuters.
“Lucky to escape, but the first 40 minutes we played really good tactical rugby.”
Meanwhile, All Blacks coach Steve Hansen is min gespin about the stalemate.
He says: “If you look at history, our June series we are always rusty.
%%%twitter https://twitter.com/Springboks?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Springboks. We look forward to meeting you in Japan. #NZLvRSA #BACKBLACK pic.twitter.com/zTIshhZ3il
— All Blacks (@AllBlacks)
“We scramble away and scramble away and don’t play great rugby. This is our June series.
“We have said that the Rugby Championship is not our priority. The World Cup is.”