All Blacks hooker Samisoni Taukei’aho is desperate to taste victory over the Springboks when the old foes battle again at Ellis Park on Saturday.
The hefty defeat of the All Blacks by the Boks in the first Test of the 2022 Rugby Championship at a packed Mbombela Stadium last week has ramped up the pressure on New Zealand for the rematch in Johannesburg.
“Just listening to the older boys, Ellis Park can be a hostile environment where the home fans love their team. It’s going to be the same as the last game, only bigger,” said Taukei’aho, who has been backed by coach Ian Foster as the All Blacks’ first-choice No 2 in the Republic ahead of veterans Dane Coles and Codie Taylor.
“But it’s something that motivates you and can use it as fuel. As a young rugby player, these are the moments you want to play in … when everything is against you and the other team is playing in front of their home crowd.
“It makes the victory that much sweeter when you’re playing against everyone. Heard a lot of stories [about playing at Ellis Park], so can’t wait to get there.”
The Kiwis have now lost five of their past six Tests amid renewed calls for the axing of Foster.
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Taukei’aho said: “There’s a lot of confidence and we back each other; we know our ability and know what we’re capable of. We’re working really hard and I’m sure [the win] is coming around the corner.”
Before last week, the thought of the young Kiwi rake trying to deliver clean ball to the lineout while under pressure from Bok giants Eben Etzebeth, Lood de Jager and Pieter-Steph du Toit would have given him nightmares, but Taukei’aho enjoyed impressive accuracy in Nelspruit.
The 24-year-old said: “I don’t want to take credit for myself because there’s a lot of moving parts to a lineout … the locks, the callers … my job is just to throw in the ball!
“I’ll also give credit to the other hookers for practising even on our days off.
“Sometimes I overthink too much but I’m tweaking that and focusing on what I can control. There is a lot of hard work that goes on behind the scenes.”
On making his first start in SA, he added: “I was really excited for a couple of hours but then I knew there was a job I had to do and reality started kicking in and I started preparing to put my best foot forward to help the boys out.”
