Springbok captain Eben Etzebeth was pleased with his side's showing after they beat Argentina 37-15 in their opening Rugby Championship match in front of 44 000 fans at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium on Saturday.
“We must try and take some of this momentum into next week’s game (against Argentina away from home). We need to change the mind-set that away matches are tough and try to stay positive.”
Both Etzebeth and coach Allister Coetzee were full of praise for the support they received in Port Elizabeth‚ with the official attendance for the Test at 43‚513 spectators.
“A lot of credit must be given to supporters here in PE‚” Etzebeth said.
“They created a great vibe‚ not only today‚ but also at our open training sessions during the week. We really appreciated that.
"The crowd today was awesome‚ the people was great all week‚ we really enjoyed it to stay and play here.”
Coetzee indicated that they will stay and train in Port Elizabeth until Tuesday‚ before the squad of 28 players and management start their trek to Salta via Johannesburg‚ Sao Paulo and Buenos Aires.
“Most of the work will be done here and hopefully that will freshen us up for next weekend’s match in Salta‚” Coetzee said.
Scorers:
South Africa 37: Tries: Courtnall Skosan‚ Raymond Rhule‚ Siya Kolisi‚ Pieter-Steph Du Toit. Conversions: Elton Jantjies (4). Penalties: Elton Jantjies (3 )
Argentina 15: Tries: Martin Landajo‚ Emiliano Boffelli‚ Conversion: Juan Hernandez. Penalty: Nicolas Sanchez.
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