Springbok coach Jake White played down the ecstasy in the aftermath of his team’s nerve-racking Tri-Nations victory over the All Blacks at Newlands on Saturday.
While the 49 118 fans crammed into Newlands erupted at the final whistle to celebrate one of the Boks’ finest performances in recent memory, White preferred to remain focussed. After failing to gain a bonus point from their two home matches, the Boks will, in all likelihood, need a rare away victory if they hope to retain the trophy — a point that is not lost on the coach.
”I don’t want to get too euphoric,” White told reporters at the post-match press conference. ”But to get two [Tri-Nations] wins in-a-row is important for our minds.”
Following the 40-26 win at Ellis Park last year, the victory represents just the second occasion since re-admission that the Boks have gained back-to-back victories over New Zealand.
The only other time they achieved the feat post-isolation, was back in 1998 when, under Nick Mallett, the Boks won 13-3 in Wellington and 24-23 in Durban, before going on to clinch their
first title.
But White did an about-turn midway through the press conference, finally admitting the victory was important.
”This is a huge win for SA rugby and for this team. Any win over the All Blacks is special,” he said.
”We would always have been up against it if we had lost.”
All Blacks coach Graham Henry, meanwhile, was full of praise for the Springboks after they downed his team in the bruising encounter.
”We have no excuses,” Henry said. ”We were beaten by the better team and a lot of credit to the Springboks — their defence was outstanding.”
Henry admitted that the match represented a huge step up from the Lions series. ”This was definitely a step up from the Lions,” he said, before adding: ”This Springbok team is probably better than last year and improving all the time.”
Captain Tana Umaga (ankle) and scrumhalf Byron Kelleher (head) are injury worries ahead of their second Tri-Nations encounter next weekend in Sydney.
”Byron is not well, clearly. He has a head problem and we will wait to see how he responds,” said Henry, whose management team are likely to cast a critical eye on Victor Matfield’s tackle that pole-axed the nuggety number nine.
The All Blacks leave for Australia on Sunday where they will take on the Wallabies next weekend. The Boks, after a gruelling three-week schedule, have a week’s break and then play Australia in Perth on August 20 — a match they will surely target for an uncommon away win. – Sapa