Durban – The All Blacks recorded their heaviest-ever win over the Springboks in Durban on Saturday, ending the Rugby Championship with an emphatic 57-15 win and equalling the world record of 17 successive Tier 1 Test wins in the process.
For a second consecutive week, the Springboks failed to cross the line in a home Test match while the All Blacks made merry by scoring nine tries against them.
Springbok captain Adriaan Strauss admitted afterwards that it was “pretty tough to get one’s head around” the margin and manner of the victory but suggested that the team was a young group and that they will get better in the future.
“With the score at 12-9 at halftime, we were in the match and we were chasing a 7-point margin at the beginning of the second half,” Strauss said.
The Springbok skipper, playing in his last home test match, congratulated New Zealand’s captain Kieran Read and his team on their victory and said his team “could have done better” before thanking the South African public for their support.
Read was particularly pleased with his team’s 45 points scored in the second half and credited the All Black bench with finishing off the match for them.
“The Springboks turned up for the fight today and we had to do it in the second half,” he said.
All Black lock forward Brodie Retallick was named Man of the Match.
“This Rugby Championship has been a real test in the last two games. We had a bit of an arm wrestle in the first half today, but the gaps opened up for us in the second half,” he said.
– ANA