Pieter-Steph du Toit says the Springboks showed their character by overcoming a determined England side at Ellis Park.
The Boks took a full house of log points away from their Nations Championship opener after a commanding 45-21 victory.
However, despite the convincing scoreline, Du Toit said England made the Springboks work hard for every minute of the contest.
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“It was a tough game for us. That’s the thing about England – they never stop fighting and we always knew they were going to fight back,” he said. “You could see even in the last minute, the last second.
“We just needed to stick to our plans and execute it as best as we could.”
The world champions were dealt a double blow before the match when captain Siya Kolisi was ruled out with a hamstring injury and Eben Etzebeth failed a concussion test. Du Toit shifted from blindside flank to lock and took over the captaincy.
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He admitted the Springboks briefly lost their grip on the match before regaining the ascendancy again after the break.
“Unfortunately we lost a bit of control towards the second half of the first half, but at the end of the game, we made ourselves proud.”
The 2023 World Rugby Player of the Year also embraced the challenge of returning to the second row after being asked to fill Etzebeth’s vacancy.
“Being back at four lock again was quite tough, but of course playing for the Springboks and being able to put on the Springbok jersey is a massive honour.”
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Du Toit said the contest developed differently to what the Springboks had anticipated, with an aerial battle replacing the scrum-heavy contest they had expected.
“Scrums are something we would’ve wanted to have a bit more of, but you could see there was a big aerial battle, and a lot of scraps and we tried to execute that as well.”
He also thanked the Ellis Park crowd of 52,700 for their support.
“South African fans are the best and hopefully we can make them proud for the rest of the season.”
Photo: Johan Orton/Gallo Images
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Pieter-Steph du Toit says the Springboks showed their character by overcoming a determined England side at Ellis Park.
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