{"id":761980,"date":"2026-09-06T15:14:12","date_gmt":"2026-09-06T15:14:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/761980\/"},"modified":"2026-09-06T15:14:12","modified_gmt":"2026-09-06T15:14:12","slug":"hopefully-me-and-dave-will-have-a-beer-his-will-be-a-little-bit-more-bitter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/761980\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Hopefully me and Dave will have a beer. His will be a little bit more bitter’"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Published: 4 hours ago | 6 September 2026 07:08 EDT <\/p>\n

mens<\/p>\n

international<\/p>\n

South African head coach Rassie Erasmus (R) speaks with New Zealand’s head coach Dave Rennie (L) during the third Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry international rugby union match between South Africa and New Zealand at the FNB Stadium in Johannesburg, on September 5, 2026. (Photo by PHILL MAGAKOE \/ AFP via Getty Images) \"Google <\/a> <\/p>\n

Rassie Erasmus insists South Africa<\/a> still have work to do before they can claim Castle Double Malt Rugby\u2019s Greatest Rivalry honours, despite edging New Zealand<\/a> 29-24 in a gripping third Test at FNB Stadium on Saturday.<\/p>\n

The victory handed the Springboks a 2-1 lead heading into next weekend\u2019s final match in Baltimore, but the South Africa boss was quick to dismiss suggestions the series was already effectively wrapped up.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know a lot of people said that this is the series here in South Africa, but it is not. We\u2019ve played three games here and we\u2019re one up, but the final game is still to come,\u201d said Erasmus.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know we can\u2019t lose it anymore because there\u2019s not points difference or tries scored (as a tie breaker). But the trophy was actually designed in two halves to be shared if it\u2019s a draw. So, it\u2019s game on.\u201d<\/p>\n

The teams will now travel together to the United States for the fourth and final Test, with Erasmus joking that he and All Blacks<\/a> head coach Dave Rennie may share a drink before attention immediately turns back to the decisive fixture.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

South Africa <\/p>\n

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New Zealand <\/p>\n

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\u201cHopefully me and Dave will have a beer,\u201d he said. \u201cHis will be a little bit more bitter and mine will be a little sweeter.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut then on Sunday we arrive there and we get into camp again.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe assess the injuries; we start planning and it\u2019s number one and two again. It\u2019s the greatest rivalry and we play to try and win the series, and they will try to draw the series.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo, no, it\u2019s going to be flipping important.\u201d<\/p>\n

South Africa were made to work hard for the win after spending much of the contest chasing the game. The Springboks did not lead until the 58th minute and only created breathing room during a frenetic final quarter before holding off a late All Blacks response.<\/p>\n

Erasmus admitted the match lived up to everything expected of a meeting between the world\u2019s top two sides.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are happy tonight. It was epic. It was intense,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the scoreboard at the end showed how close the game was. We\u2019re just happy we won.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow we\u2019re on the same flight and now we must try and go replicate that in Baltimore.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey were definitely on top (in the first half). All of us I think envy the way they can handle the ball and they\u2019re certainly brilliant at that.<\/p>\n

\u201cLuckily we went in level at halftime which gives you some hope.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Springbok coach acknowledged the tension in the closing stages as momentum shifted repeatedly between the rivals.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not sure what my heart rate was but we were certainly nervous,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd I think they were nervous.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s massive, this is. You\u2019re playing number one and two in the world and it switches one week to the next and it certainly lives up to that (hype).<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd I can tell you now, we\u2019re not sitting here thinking we are flipping awesome.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re thinking there was also a lot of luck that that went our way.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Published: 4 hours ago | 6 September 2026 07:08 EDT mens international South African head coach Rassie Erasmus…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":761981,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[5903,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-761980","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-rugby","tag-rugby","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/761980","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=761980"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/761980\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/761981"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=761980"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=761980"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=761980"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}