The Springbok camp admits they had it tough at Twickenham against England on Saturday.
But for the second week in a row, coach Rassie Erasmus’s world champions dug deep to produce a positive result – this time beating England 29-20 thanks to two tries by Cheslin Kolbe and touchdowns by Grant Williams and Pieter-Steph du Toit.
Manie Libbok added four points with the boot and his replacement Handre Pollard five, with England replying with two ties of their own.
The Boks, though, have every reason to feel they didn’t put on their best show, with Erasmus saying: “It was tough. We also had to work hard last week for the victory [against Scotland]. We missed a kick here and there and both teams were disallowed tries in the second half, while the injury to Ox [Nche’s leg ] disrupted the way we planned to do things.
A couple of shots from a proper grind in London 😤#Springboks #ForeverGreenForeverGold #ENGvRSA pic.twitter.com/dElvWwpxDb
“We were certainly not happy with the performance, but if you beat England by nine points, it could come across as arrogant to say that. So, we are content with the result.”
His captain Siya Kolisi agrees and says of where they got the krag to win the match: “We are a team that believe in fighting until the end and chasing lost causes, and that’s pulled us together as a group.
“We had to dig deep, but the players never gave up and kept on believing and that’s special about this group, and it allowed us to go all the way.”
South Africa beat Scotland 32-15 at Murrayfield last weekend in a match that could have gone either way.
The world champs and No.1 ranked team in the world now shift their attention to Wales this weekend, where they will look to finish off 2024 on the ultimate high.
Siya Kolisi and the Springboks always find a way 👇
📺 Stream #AutumnNationsSeries on DStv: https://t.co/0P0NNhnwKw pic.twitter.com/eFfRJMd84Z