Despite Cheslin Kolbe sustaining a jaw fracture, which forces him to miss the final match of the series in Baltimore, Rassie Erasmus highly praised the epic victory of the Springboks over the All Blacks with a score of 29-24. This victory allowed the Springboks to take a 2-1 lead in the greatest rugby rivalry.
The Greatest Rugby Rivalry
Rassie Erasmus called the match an 'epic' battle, but he reported that Cheslin Kolbe was injured and will be unable to participate in next week's match in Baltimore. The victory achieved in Soccer City gave the Springboks the lead in the confrontation, but it came at the cost of losing key players on both sides in a match played in an extremely tense atmosphere.
Although the All Blacks still have a chance to level the score in Baltimore, Erasmus realizes that his team will require another monumental effort in the USA.
'It was truly an epic test match,' said Erasmus, his voice hoarse after eighty minutes as he directed his players via microphone. 'The All Blacks can still level the score in Baltimore, but obviously, we are happy tonight.'
The second half of the match saw the Springboks lose Kolbe, and New Zealand suffered a serious blow when captain Ardie Savea was forced off the field.
Erasmus added, 'I don't want to complain again because I got into trouble for it, and I apologize for that,' he said with a smile. 'But yes, it was epic. It was intense. It was a really good test match in every sense of the word, because we were pushed to the limit.'
He continued, 'Both teams lost vital players. We lost Cheslin, and I regret to tell you that he has a fractured jaw, so obviously, he won't travel to the USA. They lost their captain, Savea.'
'It was a fierce battle in all departments, and the final score showed how close it was. We are just happy we won. Now both teams are flying to the USA, and we understand that we must repeat this in Baltimore.'
Erasmus was particularly impressed by the All Blacks' ability to retain possession and create opportunities from play after infringements. He noted, 'They handle the ball brilliantly. None of us can say they don't retain the ball; they play according to their strengths.'
The Springboks also faced a yellow card for Sacha Feinberg-Musengomozulu, which exacerbated the setbacks caused by Kolbe's injury. Erasmus mentioned, 'Last week we lost Damian Willemse in the first half, and this week it was Cheslin, and then we had a yellow card for Sacha.'
'This put us under pressure, and we had to develop plans,' he added. The teams were tied 12-12 at halftime, but Erasmus admitted that the Springboks could not fully utilize the conditions before the break and knew that the wind would be a factor after the rest.
'Fortunately, the score was level at halftime, 12-12, but then we realized we were playing against the wind,' he said. 'I don't think we fully utilized that to our advantage in the first half. There were some penalties that Sacha could have kicked from distance, and our play wasn't the cleanest. Obviously, we were nervous, and they were nervous. This was the world's first team against the world's second team. We are not sitting here thinking we are amazing. We know we have a lot of work to do before Baltimore.'