Lukhanyo Am’s glorious try assist against the All Blacks on Saturday had fans and pundits singing his praises on social media.
The 27-year-old has played a key role in South Africa’s recent success including the 2019 World Cup triumph, their series win over the British & Irish Lions and now their historic win over New Zealand.
Am made his international debut in 2016 and has just 20 caps for the Springboks, yet his impact on top flight rugby has been immense.
Not only are his handling skills dazzling at times, but the illusive centre runs some devastating lines and is ferocious in defence.
Many fans and pundits around the world believe the Sharks star is currently the best 13 in the world and given the form and trophies under his belt, it would be difficult to argue otherwise.
Despite putting in an amazing performance to seal a late 31-29 win, the South Africa coaching staff believes there is still room for growth.
“We’re not where we want to be at the moment, but I think the momentum from here will help,” said Springboks coach Jacques Nienaber.
“The squad never doubted, they never lost focus and they shut out the white noise, even though the criticism was justified.
“When we lost to Australia, I was the first to admit that it was our worst showing since the 2018 Wales Test.
“The players never veered off what was needed to do and they continued to work hard and we kept on going through our processes.”
South Africa will next face Wales in Cardiff on 6 November before heading to Scotland the week after and eventually finishing their calendar year at Twickenham for a repeat of the World Cup final.
Full match highlights from South Africa’s epic win over the All Blacks are available below:
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