Freedom Cup Winners again

Freedom Cup Winners again. That’s what the Springboks are. On Saturday night, they won the Freedom Cup for the first time since 2009 after beating the All Blacks 18-12, at a packed DHL Stadium in Cape Town.

Freedom Cup Winners again

The Boks scored 2 tries by captain Siya Kolisi and hooker Malcolm Marx. The captain had much praise for the local crowd.

IMAGE: SA RUGBY website

Meanwhile, Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus has downplayed Saturday night’s 4th successive victory over New Zealand in Cape Town, paying respect to the All Blacks.

Erasmus said, “We respect them immensely as a team”.

He added that they respect the All Blacks too much, to make a big thing out of it.

READ MORE: Boks dig deep to beat NZ and win the Freedom Cup

It was the Bokke’s fourth win over New Zealand dating back to the Rugby World Cup warm-up clash in London last year.

A packed crowd of 57,733

Over 57, 000 fans were at the DHL Stadium to witness the historic win. At the same time, the Boks are still unbeaten in the Castle Lager Rugby Championship.

IMAGE: SA RUGBY website

READ MORE: NZ’s Justin Marshall says the teams are inseparable and look stronger than last week

“It’s not something to brag about, but it feels good”

Erasmus added that the Springbok assistant coach Tony Brown had put what the haka and the way the New Zealand team think into perspective and that helped in getting the Springboks to understand and also play better, against the team from Down Under.

“It’s important to understand what winning four consecutive games against them means, but they’ve beaten us many times in a row too and achieved so much, so it’s not something to brag about, but it feels good,” Erasmus added.

Kolisi played with a broken nose CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA – SEPTEMBER 07: Pieter-Steph du Toit of South Africa during the Castle Lager Rugby Championship match between South Africa and New Zealand at DHL Stadium on September 07, 2024 in Cape Town, South Africa. (Photo by Grant Pitcher/Gallo Images)

At the same time, Springbok captain Siya Kolisi, who played with a broken nose, echoed Erasmus’ sentiments about winning the Freedom Cup by saying they all wanted to win it.

“We needed this today. We didn’t start well but the coach was honest with us at halftime, and in the second half we did what we planned to do, and it worked out for us.”

He added that he knew it would be a big victory for the group.

Kolisi added, “The coach showed trust in me to play, so I couldn’t go out there half-hearted.”

Kolisi added that this was the Boks’ biggest game in almost a year.

IMAGE: SA RUGBY website The Boks’ biggest game in almost a year.

“After the Rugby World Cup this was the biggest game for us as a group, and we are really happy about this achievement,” he elaborated.

The Boks now have a couple of days off. Then they must start preparations for the Test against Los Pumas in Argentina in 2 weeks.

Rassie concluded, “For us, we spoke a lot about the Freedom Cup this week, and it means a lot for South Africa with where we are now. We badly wanted to win this for South Africa. This was also good for our hopes of winning the Castle Lager Rugby Championship, but we still have some work to do in that regard.”

IMAGE: SA RUGBY website