Rassie Erasmus says the Springboks' famous 36-34 victory over the All Blacks on Saturday is undoubtedly the best win of his coaching career.
Coming into the clash at the Westpac Stadium, the Boks were facing increasing pressure after suffering back-to-back defeats against Argentina and Australia, while they had not won in New Zealand since 2009.
Despite being written off by all and sundry, the Springboks manufactured a remarkable victory that has kept the race alive for the Rugby Championship title. It's worth bearing in mind that the All Blacks would have clinched the trophy once again if they had claimed a widely-expected bonus-point win over South Africa.
Reflecting on the result after the match, Erasmus admitted that the Boks had produced an immense performance under pressure.
“We lost two games on the trot. We were very close to losing three in a row and that puts pressure and takes a lot of belief away. We could have lost this game in the last minute, so we were a bit lucky. But we are very relieved and very proud to beat New Zealand in New Zealand.”
Having suffered eight successive defeats in New Zealand prior to Saturday's clash, Erasmus said it would serve as a major morale boost to have achieved such a victory against the odds.
“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.”
The match was certainly filled with drama, which included a spotlight on the officials, who missed a clear knock-on in the build-up to an All Blacks try just before half-time.
While that call went against the Boks, it also appeared that referee Nigel Owens never heard the call of one of his assistant referees, who pointed out that South Africa were offsides when defending right on their line late in the game. If Owens had awarded a penalty, the All Blacks could well have snatched a one-point win.
However, All Blacks coach Steve Hansen insisted that they couldn't use that as an excuse.
“There’s no point in me bitching about that. The game is about taking your opportunities and making sure the opposition don’t. We didn’t do that tonight.
“The result is a credit to South Africa, I thought they played particularly well and took all the chances that were there to be taken.”