@Springboks
The Springboks head into the Castle Lager Rugby Championship next month on a high after beating Wales in the series-deciding third test at the DHL Stadium in Cape Town on Saturday.
The Springboks, playing before a packed stadium, ran in three tries thanks to Captain Siya Kolisi, flyhalf, Handre’ Pollard, and Bongi Mbonambi who celebrated his 50th test cap, to win 30 – 14.
Pollard kicked the three conversions as well as three penalties.
The Man of the Match award though went to test centurion, Eben Etzebeth, whose day was capped by his fiance’, Anlia van Rensburg, singing the national anthem.
“Everyone put up their hand today,” he said in the post-match interview.
Victorious captain, Siya Kolisi, said it had been a tough series against the Welsh, but said it was “exactly what we needed to start our season.”
He also paid tribute to Etzebeth and Mbonambi for their achievements saying, “They put all their feelings aside and gave everything for the team.”
Kolisi also paid tribute to the large crowds in the stadiums at the three test matches, saying with all that is going on (in the country), people were still buying tickets for the games.
Wales may have lost the series but made history by winning their first test against the Springboks in South Africa, with their narrow one-point win in Bloemfontein.
Captain, Dan Biggar, said he was massively proud of the performance of his team after a poor Six Nations tournament. “The last 20 – 25 minutes they just squeezed us,” he said in the post-match interview.
The Springboks' next date is with the All Blacks at Mbombela Stadium on 6 August in the first of two Castle Lager Rugby Championship fixtures at home before heading overseas to face Australia.
