Skipper Duane Vermeulen and Man of the Match Kurt-Lee Arendse praised the traditional strength and flair of the Springboks for Saturday’s mauling of the Wallabies.
Arendse scored a hat-trick of tries – taking his tally to 10 in eight Tests – as Vermeulen led the Boks to the perfect start in the 2023 Rugby Championship opener with a resounding 43-12 victory at Loftus Versfeld.
The hosts were utterly dominant and seemed to embrace the occasion, playing with far more abandon than would have been expected in their first Test of the year.
The Boks will next weekend face the All Blacks in New Zealand, and speaking in a post-match interview, Vermeulen told SuperSport: “Really proud of the boys, fantastic performance. We had our plans coming into the game and we didn’t know what to expect from Australia.
“We always know Eddie [Jones] might have one or two tricks up his sleeve, but I think we adapted well and played to our strengths.
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“[A strong set piece and defence] will always be there, it’s in our blood and that’s the way we play. It’s still not 100% our best performance but I’m very happy with the result.”
There has been plenty of speculation over Vermeulen’s role with the Boks, both this year and in the future, with reports suggesting that he could lend a hand behind the scenes in a quasi-coaching role, rather than lace up his boots during the World Cup.
“I took a picture with my two boys … you never know when it’s your last game on home soil,” he said. “So you have to take in every moment, and in front of this crowd it’s just fantastic.”
Arendse added: “It was really special to play at Loftus, and great to get the win. We knew the first 20 minutes were going to be tough, but the forwards gave us a bit of momentum and the backs struck really well.
“We prepared well for them [the Wallabies] and at the end of the day it was in our favour.”
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