The Springboks will always be measured by their battles with the men from the long white cloud, writes JON CARDINELLI in SportsClub magazine
Three years ago, in the buildup to the Rugby Championship clash between the Springboks and All Blacks at Ellis Park, Test veteran Schalk Burger was asked to speak about the rivalry that exists between two of the planet’s proudest rugby nations. Burger captivated reporters with a tale of a young South African who had grown up watching these epic sporting battles unfold on television. That boy, he explained, went on to become a Springbok. He realised a lifelong dream when he stared down the haka and then another when he beat the mighty All Blacks, twice, in New Zealand.
‘The Boks played the All Blacks in Wellington back in 1998. On the other side of the world, in another town called Wellington in the Western Cape, my mates and I were sitting in front of the TV,’ Burger said. ‘We watched as the Boks met the challenge of the All Blacks and went on to win the Test. Afterwards, we were so pumped, so excited, that we decided to play a match in the back garden. We even soaked the grass with a hose pipe to emulate the wet conditions in New Zealand.
‘All you want as a youngster growing up in South Africa is a chance to play against the All Blacks,’ he continued. ‘You watch the haka. You want to be part of it. You want to meet that challenge as a South African. I’ve been privileged enough to get a few wins against the All Blacks during my career, but let’s be honest, it’s always a tough assignment. South Africa and New Zealand have a lot of respect for one another. We know it’s going to be a challenge every time we meet. That doesn’t change. As a player, you want a victory in every single Test you play, but there’s something extra at stake whenever you play the All Blacks. There’s a lot of history and the players are fortunate to be part of it.’
A few days after telling that tale, Burger and the Boks added another All Blacks scalp to their tallies. Pat Lambie came off the bench to kick a long-range penalty goal that guided the hosts to a 27-25 victory. It wasn’t the first time an Ellis Park crowd had witnessed a clutch kick at a crucial point of a South Africa-New Zealand contest. Indeed, Joel Stransky kicked a drop goal during extra time of the 1995 World Cup final. On that momentous day, the Bok defenders showed no small amount of courage to keep the more fancied All Blacks ball-carriers at bay.
A year later, on the eve of the 2015 World Cup semi-final between New Zealand and South Africa at Twickenham, veteran All Blacks centre Conrad Smith shared his own story regarding rugby’s ‘ultimate’ rivalry. ‘I grew up during the apartheid era, when Australia were our traditional foes,’ Smith said. ‘But now South Africa have come back into it and it’s got back to where it was. They are our ultimate rivals. There’s something special about playing them. We have a good relationship with most teams we play, but South Africa have a special respect for the game. That’s why two minutes after the match we are able to shake hands, walk off the pitch and have a chat with them.’
No Test team boasts a better win record against the All Blacks. South Africa have won just 38% of their matches against New Zealand, but they are still streets ahead of the rest of the chasing pack in this respect.
The Boks have enjoyed less success against the All Blacks in the professional era, though. Between 1996 and 2016, the All Blacks have won 37 and the Boks a mere 14. Twenty-two Tests have been played in New Zealand during this period, and only three of those have been won by the Boks (namely the aforementioned triumph in Wellington in 1998, as well as the wins in Dunedin in 2008 and Hamilton in 2009).
The Hamilton win was part of a monumental year for South African rugby in that the Boks won a series against the British & Irish Lions as well as the Tri-Nations title. The latter tournament witnessed three straight wins over the All Blacks. That season also heralded a significant change in the approach of the New Zealand coaches and players. The All Blacks took those failures to heart, and proceeded to alter their tactics and mindset to develop a strategy similar to that of the Boks.
‘The two defeats in South Africa were a good lesson,’ former All Blacks captain Richie McCaw said after his retirement in late-2015. ‘We went back home and felt we would beat them there. Then we lost in Hamilton. It was the moment that got us on the right track for the 2011 World Cup.’
Consider how dominant the All Blacks have been between 2010 and the present. New Zealand have won two World Cups and five Rugby Championship titles during that period. Overall, they’ve won 87 of the last 98 Tests for a win-record of 90%.
That record includes the recent stumble against the Lions. The composite side from Great Britain and Ireland became the first team to win a Test in New Zealand since 2009. The Lions beat the All Blacks 24-21 in the second match of the series in Wellington. That result marked the end of the All Blacks’ 47-game winning streak in New Zealand.
Other Test teams may take heart from the fact that that series ended in a 1-1 draw. Argentina, Australia and South Africa may now believe that a win against the All Blacks is within reach, even in the coming Tests staged in New Zealand.
The recent results of the Super Rugby matches played between New Zealand and South African teams do not make for encouraging reading, though. Last year saw South African teams losing 11 matches against New Zealand sides across 15 regular season games. In 2017, the South African teams fared even worse during the conference stage, losing 13 out of 15 against Kiwi sides and failing to record one victory on New Zealand soil.
The Boks thumped France 3-0 in June to make a positive start to the Test season. Significant improvements were made in areas like defence. Players showed more intent to win the collisions and breakdowns and thus provide the backline with a steady supply of front-foot ball. But the Boks should know that Australia and New Zealand will demand more of them physically and mentally in the Rugby Championship.
The fixtures against the All Blacks, the No 1 side in the world, should reveal how much the Boks have progressed. South Africa will tackle New Zealand in Albany on 16 September and again in Cape Town on 7 October. The Boks will be desperate to atone for what transpired in 2016 – a 41-13 loss in Christchurch, as well as a record 57-15 defeat to New Zealand in Durban.
– This article first appeared in issue 111 of SportsClub magazine
