Monday 4 November 2019 17:35, UK
Rassie Erasmus believes the foundations for South Africa’s Rugby World Cup triumph were laid in the defeat to New Zealand in the opening game of the tournament.
The 32-12 victory over England in Saturday's final in Yokohama saw the Springboks become the first team to lift the Webb Ellis Cup after losing a game in the pool stages, having gone down 23-13 to their fierce rivals in their opening match of the tournament.
But six weeks later, the team returned to the same venue to be crowned world champions for the third time and head coach Erasmus is in no doubt that loss against the All Blacks helped the squad put things into perspective.
"I think the first Test against the All Blacks was great for us in terms of how we handled pressure," Erasmus said.
"We were tense all week and it was a terrible build-up for that pool game. That actually taught us a lot how to handle the quarter-final, semi-final and final.
"Overall we started talking about pressure and what is pressure? Pressure in South Africa is not having a job. Pressure is having one of your close relatives murdered.
"In South Africa there are a lot of problems which is pressure and we started talking about things like that. Rugby shouldn't be something that creates pressure - it is something that creates hope."
“Rugby shouldn't be something that creates pressure - it is something that creates hope.”
Tries from Makazole Mapimpi and Cheslin Kolbe plus 22 points from the boot of Handre Pollard secured victory for the Springboks, with their dominance at the scrum and ferocious defence against England giving them a great platform to build on.
It was a significant moment for captain Siya Kolisi too, who is the first black player to captain the team, and the back row hopes South Africa's triumph can bring the nation closer together.
"Since I have been alive I have never seen South Africa like this," Kolisi said. "With all the challenges we have, the coach said to us that we are not playing for ourselves anymore, we are playing for the people back home, and that is what we wanted to do.
"We appreciate all the support - people in the taverns, in the shebeens, farms, homeless people and people in the rural areas.
"I honestly can't explain how I was feeling, seeing the joy in my team-mates' faces, as I know how hard they have worked and the coaches have worked.
"We had to believe in each other and believe in the plan. He (Erasmus) kept telling us how good we are and he drove us to places we have never been before."
