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Springboks make a statement with dominant win over All Blacks
By Finn Morton
No two Tests are ever the same in international rugby. The All Blacks dominated the Boks in Auckland last month, but it was a very different story at Twickenham on Friday night.
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Tries to Siya Kolisi and Kurt Lee-Arendse saw the Boks taking a commanding lead into the break, and this continued throughout the second term as they ran away with a 35-7 win.
The All Blacks’ impressive unbeaten run comes to an end at the hands of their rivals, while the Springboks can take plenty of confidence into the upcoming Rugby World Cup.
Walking into the legendary venue before the Test, it was clear who the majority of fans were here to see. There was plenty of green around the streets of Twickenham, and even a mix of braai and drinks.
If you closed your eyes, even for a moment, you were practically transported to the streets of Johannesburg before a Test at Ellis Park. This was a Springboks home Test, even if it wasn’t.
The anticipation for another instalment of this enthralling rivalry continued to build and build as the clock continued to tick ever closer to 7.30 pm. Thousands flocked the stands at Twickenham, and they couldn’t wait.
As the teams made their way out on the hallowed turf at Twickenham, the noise that echoed throughout the stadium was incredible. It gave this writer goosebumps.
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After the anthems and a passionate rendition of Kapa O Pango from the All Blacks, the Test was finally here. The waiting was all but over.
All Blacks fullback Beauden Barrett kicked the ball high into the London sky as the Test got underway on Friday evening.
Things started slow, if only for a while, as both teams began to ease their way into the Test – but one of them, clearly, did that better than the other.
It was all the Springboks throughout the first half of the Test. The All Blacks were in survival mode, but did enough to hang on – for a while, at least.
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Following a series of penalties from the New Zealanders, which saw Scott Barrett and Sam Cane sent to the sin bin, Springboks captain Siya Kolisi opened the scoring in the 18th minute.
Just as it was during their disastrous run of losses last year, poor discipline and errors were the All Blacks’ Achilles heel. Against a team like the Springboks, you’ll be made to pay.
Midfielder Jordie Barrett threw an intercept in the 34th minute, and Kurt Lee-Arendse reaped the rewards. The wing scored under the sticks to give the Boks a commanding 14-nil advantage.
But the worst was yet to come.
Lock Scott Barrett was sent to the sin bin for a needless high tackle on a defenceless Dane Vermeulen, and two yellows make a red. Barrett’s night was done, and the All Blacks were in trouble.
Wing Will Jordan gave the All Blacks a glimmer of hope though with a try on the stroke of half-time, only for the TMO to dismiss the score for a knock-on.
The All Blacks were held to zero, and were down to 14 men. As for the Boks, they were playing some of their best rugby since maybe the 2019 World Cup.
The good times continued to roll after the break for the Boks, with hooker Malcolm Marx scoring about a minute into the second term.
Beauden Barrett kicked a cross-field kick, inside his 22 too, directly into touch on the full. The Boks, and Marx, made the most of their opportunity to strike.
Another Beauden Barrett error, this time on the defensive side of the ball, almost saw Boks centre Canan Moodie score a brilliant solo try. Moodie danced around Barrett, with ease, and had the pace to beat covering defenders to the line
But the score was called back by the TMO. New Zealanders could breathe a sigh of relief, if only for a bit. The Springboks continued to launch waves of attacking pressure.
But the Springboks sacrificed their one-man advantage with flanker Pieter-Steph du Toit leaving the field after a high tackle on All Blacks captain Sam Cane. Du Toit’s yellow card went under review, though, but remained unchanged.
It didn’t trouble the Boks, though, with replacement Bongi Mbonambi scoring before du Toit returned to the field. The raced out to a 28-nil lead with 20 minutes to play.
Nobody saw that coming, and the attacking onslaught wasn’t over either.
Replacement Kwagga Smith scored with just over 10 minutes to play, and that sent the Boks fans into a frenzy. This was probably their best win over the All Blacks ever.
It was enough for some New Zealand fans as they began to make their way for the exit.
Replacement Cam Roigard scored a brilliant solo try which saw the All Blacks avoid ‘naught’ for the first time in quite some time.
In front of a crowd of more than 80,000 people, the Springboks made a statement ahead of the upcoming Rugby World Cup.
The Springboks "hammered" the All Blacks. Can the All Blacks recover? No, unless our forwards can manage to find some ticker.
Cam Roiguard must start. He is what Aaron Smith isn't. An extra loose forward. France will slaughter us with DUPONT unless we give Roiguard a chance.
There was an earie silence after the match between my brothers and I. We were left breathless by the Boks display. I have never seen an AB side so demolished and clueless. And I've watched them for the last 50 odd years. We have huge respect for the AB'S. The Boks showed other teams how to beat the AB's. The question is.. Can they? No team in the world can match our forwards and the bench. What delighted me most is that our backs are showing speed, innovation and flair.
The WC is a few weeks away and a completely different beast.
Anything can happen. The Boks will have to pull out all the stops to win it.
And the AB's will be back. They are too good a side.
Boks vs AB's final.
Ben? Hello, Ben? Are you there? Wipe away the tears. There’s some humble pie waiting for you…
“Food poisoning” was the original excuse, here chewing the popcorn waiting for the new excuse🤣
Bok fans crowing and gloating like they have won the RWC again already and rubbishing the opposition is a pretty poor reflection of their classy team.
Like I said, Barrett just can't help himself.
Sam cane is a major liability with his discipline hes always yellow carded when it gets tough and should not be our captain either
Scooter has always had ill discipline for bad technique always hitting someones head and looks like we definitely wont get past the quarters unfortunately at this rate
Only positive cam roigard should be starting 9 or at least 2nd
Did the ABs revert to an old game plan? I saw an old fashioned attacking structure which is very vulnerable to the Boks' excellent rush defence. Hardly any AB kicking behind like in Auckland.
But in any event, the Boks were clearly superior and will take a lot out of that win.
I was hoping for 57-0 haha. That was a proper hiding 🙈
Excellent game, Boks. Makes the RWC even more intriguing. It’s going to be interesting to see how our ABs play against France. Hopefully being completely dismantled like this will mean we don’t play like that again 😂