Springbok captain Siya Kolisi said he had to prove himself after coach Rassie Erasmus gave him the chance to lead his team to an 18-12 victory over the New Zealand All Blacks in their Rugby Championship match at the Cape Town Stadium on Saturday.
Playing with a broken nose, Kolisi’s try early in the second half enabled the Springboks to overturn a 9-3 half-time deficit in what he said was South Africa’s most important game since they won the World Cup final against the same opponents in Paris last year.
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Kolisi received a standing ovation from a capacity crowd when he was substituted 23 minutes from the end.
"The coach gave me the chance when I said I was okay so I couldn’t go half-hearted. Nobody is going to celebrate you if you don’t go flat out,” said Kolisi.
"We didn’t start the way we wanted to and the coach was quite honest with us (at half-time). At the start of the second half we did what we wanted. This game was really big for us.”
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 championship.
But Erasmus was muted in acclaiming the most successful streak against their arch-rivals in the professional era.
"It was nice but they have had big scores against us and six times in a row they have beaten us," he said.
"It’s nothing to brag about because they have done worse to us. But it was special."
New Zealand’s defeat knocked them out of contention for the title.
The Springboks will have to lose their remaining two matches away and at home against Argentina while either the Pumas or Australia, who were due to play each other later on Saturday, would have to win their last three matches.
Erasmus said they would field two different squads for the matches against Argentina away on September 21 and at home in Mbombela a week later.
"We’ll take three days off before we get together again, then we will send one group to Argentina and keep one group here for the home game.”
New Zealand coach Scott Robertson said his team had performed well in both their matches in South Africa but had failed to take their opportunities.
"Test matches are about finishing," he said, contrasting his side’s errors with the Springboks who had taken their chances. "They know how to get it done."
But he said was proud of his team’s effort.
“We have some great young players coming through," he said.
New Zealand captain Scott Barrett said it was a highly physical match, "as it always is against South Africa".
"We created enough opportunities. It is very disappointing."
