Ethan Hooker emerged from the thick of the Springboks’ 29-24 win over the All Blacks at FNB Stadium on Saturday night to learn with surprise that he had been named man of the match.The victory gave South Africa a 2-1 lead in the series, with the final contest in Baltimore next weekend. “It [the man of the match award] was the last thing on my mind [because] I was so exhausted after 80 minutes and so happy that we won,” said the left wing, who was busy on attack and defence the whole match. He learnt of his achievement from one of the team officials. “I was like, ‘Flip, there’s a man of the match’; it actually [slipped] my mind.”Hooker’s duties included chasing and fielding high balls in a cold, swirling wind. “I enjoy the aerial contest and having the wind factor, and then obviously them being so good in there as well; it really tests yourself.“You really have to think a lot more … it’s a big contest, and I pride myself on the aerial contest, so I love going up against these guys.”Hooker, who also had the task of marking Will Jordan, one of New Zealand’s ace playmakers, said he didn’t pay much attention to the names and reputations in the opposition. “I just focus on doing my job on the team. There are 23 of us, and on game day we all just give it our all, and at the end of the day I’m not focusing really on who I’m playing against.”Hooker believed the Bok pack ascendancy in the second half helped tip the match in their favour. “I think a lot of it came from scrum dominance. We really did get the ball rolling there, and then also I think we got our contestable kicking game right, started getting our ball back quite a bit … we got our structures in place, and we just sort of built momentum from there. “And the crowd helped a huge amount. As soon as you start getting momentum, the crowd joins and it lifts you.”Now the team had to refocus on preparing for the final fourth Test in the US. “[This win] is huge for confidence [for] next week. The job starts again now. We’re already shifting our mind to Baltimore. It’s going to be a neutral venue, so it’s going to be a bit different; we’re not going to have 90,000 odd people screaming for us.”