Bok stalwarts: Saturday’s match against the Wallabies marked the 50th cap for both Jannie du Plessis and Morné Steyn. Photo: SA Rugby
By Anne Taylor
30 September 2013
It was a great sporting weekend for South Africa – Ernie Els had a cracker of a round at St Andrews putting him in contention to win the Dunhill Classic, cyclist Louis Meintjes raced to a silver medal in the under-23 road race at the UCI World Championships in Italy – and, best of all, the Springboks beat the Australians 28-8 in a thrilling match at Newlands in Cape Town on Saturday.
The All Blacks won against Argentina, setting up the final between the world’s two best teams on Saturday (October 5) at Ellis Park in Johannesburg. The Springboks will need to beat the All Blacks and score a bonus point, without conceding one, to win the Rugby Championship.
“A few things we have worked on that worked, this is a special bunch of players, really hungry to do well for their country,” coach Heyneke Meyer said after the match. “We don’t play on emotion, but focus on task at hand. We are in with a chance to win championship, and are where we wanted to be.”
The last time the Aussies won at the Newlands rugby stadium in Cape Town was in 1992. Saturday’s game was also the Springboks’ 50th test at Newlands, the first ground in South Africa to host the national team 50 times. And it was Morné du Plessis and Jannie du Plessis’ 50th game. Du Plessis and his brother Bismarck became the first South African siblings to achieve 50 caps a piece.
- Read the match report on SA.info: Bok win sets up showdown vs NZ
