The Springboks exploits over the last two weeks against the All Blacks in the Rugby Championship have been the most extraordinary show of heart and desire to find a way to win.
Of course, we already witnessed it at the Rugby World Cup last year, when they won their quarter-final, semi-final and final by one point to lift the crown for a fourth time.
The All Blacks were up by 10 points at Ellis Park and lost. They had a six-point half-time buffer at the Cape Town Stadium and lost. On both occasions they had the Boks on the ropes, possibly even with a knee on the canvas.
But when you have this Springboks team down, you have to make sure they are dead, dead. Because, if they have a pulse, they will fight until the bitter end.
And nobody epitomised that warriors spirit more than captain Siya Kolisi on Saturday at Cape Town’s magnificent sporting venue. Playing with a broken nose after making himself available “for the most important game after the World Cup”, the captain had to stand up and lead by example. And lead, he did.
Kolisi produced an action-packed display, with big hits and support runs, which was rewarded with a try that swung the momentum in the match in the Springboks’ favour.
When he was substituted in the second half, he received the deafening cheer from the Mother City faithful.
Before the match Kolisi talked about how they wanted to win back the Freedom Cup, which has been in the hands of the All Blacks for the past 15 years. It’s the only piece of silverware this golden generation of Springboks haven’t “touched”.
In the end, they lifted the cup with fireworks and streamers that capped off a glorious night in Cape Town.
"We all wanted this game, and we all know how big it was," Kolisi said. "The coach gave me his trust when I said I was okay, and I needed to prove that to him. I couldn't be half-hearted.
"No one is going to celebrate you when you're half-hearted because I know there's Kwagga Smith and Marco van Staden, along with other guys who would want this opportunity.
"We needed it today and, even though we didn't start the way we wanted to start, the coach was quite honest with us [before] the second half.
"We did exactly what we wanted, and the subs did what they always do. This game was big and, after the World Cup final, this was the biggest game for us as this group.“
It was the fourth successive win by the Springboks over the All Blacks – and their fourth win in a row in as many games in the Rugby Championship.
The Springboks are now on the brink of winning their first ever full-fixture Rugby Championship with two matches against Argentina away and at home to come. The Boks won the trophy in 2019, but it was an abbreviated version because of the Rugby World Cup in Japan
IOL Sport