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Carter (17')
Tries
Kolbe (24', 42'), Willemse (60'), Smith (68'), Snyman (72'), Esterhuizen (78')
McKenzie (18')
Conversions
Libbok (25', 43', 61', 73', 79')
McKenzie (28')
Penalties
Libbok (46')
Wellington has been a happy hunting ground for visiting teams to New Zealand, but no one saw this result coming. The Springboks scored 36 unanswered points in the second half to inflict the heaviest ever defeat against New Zealand with a 43-10 scoreline and delivered one of the best forty minutes of international rugby you are likely to see.
It was the All Blacks' 9th debutant this season who opened the scoring as Leroy Carter ran in an excellent try, but that was the last time the hosts would score a point, not from the boot. They held a slight 10-7 lead at the break after Cheslin Kolbe had scored a late intercept try in the first half for the visitors.
The opening 38 minutes saw a handful of players leave and not return from injury or failed HIA in a game of real entertainment and ferocious intensity.
Records tumbled in the second period as the Springboks retained the Freedom Cup, which they won for the first time last year since 2009, running in five further tries and shut out the All Blacks to make it two wins and a draw in their last three visits to Wellington. This result, and the Argentinians' win over the Wallabies earlier in the day, sees the world champions move back to the top of the rankings and New Zealand drop from first to third.
It was the heaviest home defeat since 1964 (which was a 5-20 loss to the Wallabies) for the All Blacks and the biggest defeat overall, surpassing their record loss in 2023 to the same opposition. When last did you see them not score in the second half? This was the most points they conceded in the second half, surpassing that famous French win in 1999.
The tries from the Boks came from across the park, with Cheslin Kolbe adding a second, Damian Willemse, Kwagga Smith, RG Snyman, and Andre Esterhuizen all adding their name to the score sheet, while Manie Libbok (who came on early for an injured Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu scored five conversions and a penalty and he was a big part of the second half dynamism which tore the All Blacks to shreds.
Former All Black and now pundit Mils Muliaina said on air of his team, “I still think they were in the game with 15 minutes or so to go. They were still only 14 points behind. What concerns me is that they almost gave up. It’s not really the sight you want to see from the All Blacks. You have to give it to South Africa – they came out in the second half, they piled on some pressure, they demanded everything in that second half and basically blew the All Blacks away.”
A despondent New Zealand captain, Captain Scott Barrett, said after the game, “That was a tough one to swallow. The Springboks certainly showed up and made a real improvement to last week, and we certainly didn’t adjust. Across the board, our scrum was under pressure. We had limited opportunities and I think the Boks took theirs.”
Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus selected a team without Jesse Kriel, Willie Le Roux, Damian De Allende, Handre Pollard, nor Eben Etzebeth and still recorded a win few saw coming.
Erasmus said before this game, “This is an exciting team, which we believe will provide us with the forward power we require, and spark in the backline against a quality All Blacks side.” Never have those words been truer.
Ethan Hooker was excellent as was the whole squad, even with the changes among the backs, as the victors lost several players through injury in the first half.
Inspirational captain Siya Kolisi had a huge hour before he left the field, and he now has 15 wins in The Rugby Championship as captain, surpassing John Smit. When he was subbed off, the Boks had three times as many entries to the opposition 22m compared to the All Blacks, and had 70% of the territory.
The scrum was dominant, they stole All Black ball at the lineout, and the aggression and quick feet of the likes of Damian Willemse and Grant Williams were too much for the hosts.
Kolisi said, “I give credit to my boys; we didn't give up. And to the coach as well. We played fearlessly; we didn't want to hold back. We knew what we needed to do, and we believed in ourselves; that was the most important thing out there. "We've got the right to fight for the Rugby Championship. It's open now, and that's what matters to us."
In the post-game media conference, Erasmus was delighted but humble, saying that New Zealand had not made a fuss of last week’s win at Eden Park and he would do the same, but could not deny the win would be celebrated.
“They didn't rub it in our faces last week, and we won't either. We had to deal with a lot of injuries today, and guys put up their hands…We wanted to have people keep believing in us. We are getting better, but we still made mistakes in the first half an hour.
It's a 24-hour-a-day job keeping and presenting confidence in this day and age of social media. You fall on your own sword, and it's not about pleasing other people. It's satisfying, but the reality is tomorrow they will regroup, and Argentina will be assessing us for our game in two weeks.
We will enjoy tonight, no doubt, but we get on the plane tomorrow and get back to reality.”
Siya added, “We were just focused on the job at hand. Our coaching staff gave us the freedom to play and told us, ‘Don't be afraid to make a mistake’. We have real trust and belief among each other - we can see what we do in training, and it's been intense this week.”
All four teams in the TRC have identical 2-2 win-loss records, but Australia, which earlier lost 28-26 to Argentina in Sydney, have one bonus point more than the Springboks and All Blacks.
