Koch proud of Bok win over Wales on 50th appearance

Stalwart Springbok prop Vincent Koch was proud of his teammates and thrilled to get a win over Wales on his 50^th appearance for the national team, at Twickenham on Saturday afternoon.

The Boks clinched a comfortable 41-13 win, after being pushed initially to take a tight 14-13 lead into the halftime break, before powering away in the second half with an unanswered 27 points.

Koch was part of a dominant Bok scrum effort, that arguably didn’t get the reward they deserved after some strange calls from Irish ref Chris Busby, but he was just happy with the overall result that they can now build on going into the incoming series against Ireland and Portugal.

“It was very special playing my 50^th game today. It was a dream that has now come true, especially after the boys put in an unbelievable performance today,” said Koch after the match.

“I am very proud of the team, they showed real character and I am really happy with the win. It is also good to win my 50^th. Those opportunities don’t come every day, but we showed character and effort to get the win.

“It (the game) wasn’t perfect, but there were glimpses of really good things and we can really build on that. The young guys also put up their hands which is a great sign for SA Rugby and we all are looking forward to the Irish Tests.”

Star of the show

The star of the show on the day was however Bok debutant Edwill van der Merwe, who in his first start was named man-of-the-match after an action-packed performance that including a double try saving tackle and a wonderful solo try of his own.

“That was incredible and it was very humbling to make my first start for the Springboks and get the man-of-the-match (award). But honestly the way we prepared over the last two weeks gave me a lot of confidence in the system and allowed me to go out there and be myself,” said Van Der Merwe.

“There was no real nervousness, I could be just do my thing. The guys around me like Jesse (Kriel) and Mapimps (Makazole Mapimpi) really helped. They gave me a lot of confidence, always chatting to me and made my job easy. So it was a really memorable first start for South Africa and hopefully it’s not the last one.

Speaking about his try Van Der Merwe added: I called for Grant (Williams) to give me the ball off his shoulder and I couldn’t believe my eyes when I went through. Crossing the tryline I was just overcome with emotion and just took a moment to take it all in and it was incredibly special.”