Kiwi assistant coach Jason Ryan has revealed his first experience of a clash between the Springboks and All Blacks at one of SA’s iconic sporting venues.

Ryan replaced the axed John Plumtree as New Zealand’s forwards coach before a two-match tour to South Africa in the 2022 Rugby Championship.

Speaking on the latest episode of the All Blacks’ official podcast, the former Crusaders assistant described his arrival and atmosphere at the famed stadium in the Republic as “so good”.

“So the bus was probably, I reckon, just on 10 minutes late,” Ryan said. “Then, getting in through Joburg and getting into Ellis Park … it’s feral, but it’s so good, when I say that, passionate is probably the better word to use and the Boks [fans] and the jerseys and you know, they’re banging on the bus and ‘Bokke! Bokke!’ they’re chanting.

“Then it comes back to, I’ve done my coaching for the week, it’s actually their day, it’s not mine.”

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Going into the game at Ellis Park on the back of five defeats in their past six Tests, the All Blacks were expected to struggle against a powerhouse Bok pack at altitude.

However, the Kiws rallied to end their slump by punishing the rattled world champions with a 35-23 victory.

Ryan said: “I do remember saying to the boys just on the dead-ball line, just to the forwards, I said: ‘Boys, where else would you rather be right now?’ and it [the stadium] was absolutely chocka [full], and I said ‘Just promise each other you’ll care about the jersey today, just go out there and care.’

“And they did, and I couldn’t have been prouder as a coach of the forward pack that day but it was a whole team performance, everyone that was on that bus right through had delivered that.

“I was just really happy and satisfied for the boys, just seeing the emotion, just raw emotion.”

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