Tough guys from Riebeek-Kasteel, Nelspruit and Zwide helped Boks beat Japan
The Springboks had been “adopted” as a second-team by many Japanese supporters during the 2019 Rugby World Cup, but when the two sides met in the quarter-final, things were different.
Bok captain Siya Kolisi noted during the fourth episode of the five-part Springbok World Cup documentary Chasing The Sun, which airs on M-Net at 6 pm on Sundays, that it wasn’t the same friendly Japanese people he had encountered during their epic journey across the Asian nation.
“The vibe is just different. The people are not as friendly as they were before,” Kolisi said. In the third episode, coach Rassie Erasmus said that hotels were suddenly charging extra for family members, which wasn’t the case before, and Kolisi stated that even requesting extra food became an issue in the week of the quarter-final.
That kind of approach, though, came back to haunt the Brave Blossoms, as they felt the full brunt of the South Africans’ physical onslaught on the pitch. Assistant coaches Jacques Nienaber, Felix Jones and Mzwandile Stick spoke about the kinks in the Japanese armour on attack and defence, while Erasmus had just one message: “Hammer them with physicality.”
The Boks needed to find something tangible to have the right mindset to beat Japan, as they were the darlings of the tournament after wins over Ireland and Scotland, while the organisers also had to deal with Typhoon Hagibis.
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