Springboks Cheslin Kolbe, Siya Kolisi and Andre Esterhuizen have all earned praise from former All Blacks centre Sonny Bill Williams following their performances in Wellington.
The trio were singled out by the double World Cup winner, who hailed Kolbe’s 14-point swing in the first half.
The winger picked off a Billy Proctor pass in the 24th minute when New Zealand led 7-0. While South Africa started the match well, they were denied two tries, the first after Cobus Reinach was deemed to have knocked the ball on in the build-up to RG Snyman powering over the line.
Jordie Barrett also sensationally stopped Kolbe from opening his account with an outrageous try-saving tackle, with the All Blacks going in front through debutant Leroy Carter.
After intercepting the pass, Kolbe raced over 70 metres to the try-line, scoring a five-pointer eerily similar to his first Test try at the same venue, against the same opposition in 2018.
‘Big-time’ Cheslin Kolbe
Williams dissected the match on Stan Sports’ Between Two Posts show along with former Wallaby Morgan Turinui, who said, “The Boks looked good early; they had a couple of tries denied. They had real intensity and intent.”
The former All Black added that the start of the match mirrored that of the Round Three Rugby Championship clash at Eden Park.
“This was after the Springboks had three opportunities, the big one being Jordie’s unbelievable try-saver on Cheslin,” he said.
“But from an All Blacks’ perspective, you’d think that this is same, same as last week, the Boks had so many opportunities and didn’t capitalise, and then we go down the other end, against the run of play and score a try, then it’s like ‘We are here, we are on fire tonight, boys’.”
Turinui highlighted Kolbe’s try as a turning point in the match and likened it to Julian Montoya’s try in the earlier Rugby Championship match.
“This is a bit like Julian Montoya’s try; they just needed something. They started well but hadn’t had any reward on the scoreboard,” said the former Wallaby.
“You think New Zealand go down and gets three, five, seven the other way, it starts getting a bit away from them. It was exactly what the Boks needed to settle them down.”
Williams hailed Kolbe, saying: “Big-time players come up with these big plays; this isn’t only a 14-point swing, but if he knocks that down, you’re going to the bin, bro.
“You’ve got to take your hat off to him, the way he covered that pretending with that step.”
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Andre Esterhuizen and Siya Kolisi
The 40-year-old also reserved praise for Springbok replacement Esterhuizen, who also grabbed a try for South Africa, rounding off a stunning free-flowing attack.
“The bounce of the ball, contestable was going the Boks’ way, and when the big boys get going, it’s just crazy, and then you have these lightning guys on the wing,” he said.
“I’ve always rated that Esterhuizen bloke. I saw him over in Japan; he is a big, big man, but with subtle skills.”
He was also pleased to see Kolisi have a telling performance for South Africa, with the Springboks captain coming under scrutiny.
“The other thing that I loved was Siya having the game that had, especially with the blowback he has been copping it lately,” he added.
“He is a special player, the first South African captain to win back-to-back World Cups.”