Ethan Hooker was only informed of his Man of the Match award by a team official after the final whistle of South Africa's 29-24 victory over the All Blacks at FNB Stadium on Saturday — he was too exhausted to notice.
"It was the last thing on my mind because I was so exhausted after 80 minutes and so happy that we won," the left wing said. "I was like, 'Flip, there's a Man of the Match.' It actually slipped my mind."
Hooker was influential across the full 80 minutes in front of more than 90,000 fans in Soweto, carrying hard into contact and making several key defensive interventions as the Springboks took a 2-1 lead in the series.
The 23-year-old said the pressure heading into the third Test was significant after the heavy defeat in the opener. "We knew the third game was always going to be the make-or-break for either team. We just said we're going to throw everything at this game."
Despite the series lead, Hooker was measured about where things stand. "It's not done. There's still one more game left, and we're going to focus all our energy on next week."
On the demands of four consecutive Tests against New Zealand, Hooker acknowledged it is territory neither squad has navigated before. "Normally you have the privilege of facing them twice a year, and that's quite a lot. But now we've got them four times back to back. It's tough mentally. It's tough physically."
The series finale moves to Baltimore, with Hooker welcoming the neutral-venue decider and his first visit to the United States. "Neutral venue, so it's going to be a bit 50-50. First time in America. It's going to be awesome."