Has the Eden Park hoodoo been exaggerated? Rassie has his say

THE biggest talking point in the buildup to tomorrow’s crunch clash between the All Blacks and the Springboks is the home team’s 31-year unbeaten record at Eden Park and South Africa's inability to win a match there since 1937.

- MIKE GREENAWAY

But the so-called “hoodoo” is somewhat of a farce, because Rassie Erasmus’s team are playing at Eden Park for the first time (Erasmus took over as Bok coach in 2018), while the last time the Boks played at the iconic stadium was in 2013. Of the match 23 that will take on the All Blacks tomorrow, only veterans Willie Le Roux, Siya Kolisi and Eben Etzebeth featured in that 2013 defeat to the Kiwis. That makes it difficult for this Springbok team to fear playing at Eden Park, as 20 of the 23 players have never set foot on the Auckland turf.

Erasmus was asked if too much had been made about the hoodoo.