Twickenham Test a chance for All Blacks and Springboks to right recent wrongs

There are two opportunities for the All Blacks and Springboks to square off at next year’s Rugby World Cup in France.

Should one team top their pool and the other finish second – with Ireland and France making up the numbers – they will square off at the quarter-final stages of the tournament. If that outcome doesn’t eventuate, however, then the grand final will be the only chance the two rivals have for going hammer and tongs at the showpiece tournament.

France and Ireland sit at the pinnacle of the world game at present – that’s not up for debate. But is it South Africa or New Zealand who sits immediately behind them in the pecking order at present?

While the Springboks were able to take advantage of the favourable draw they were dealt at the 2019 Rugby World Cup and were ultimately crowned worthy winners, the All Blacks faltered at the semi-final stages of the competition.

The years since have not necessarily been kind to either of the two Southern Hemisphere superpowers.

The Springboks were entirely absent from the 2020 Test calendar, ceding one year of potentially crucial development in favour of protecting themselves from the possible effects of Covid. The All Blacks, on the other hand, undertook a six-match season that saw them drop matches to both the Wallabies and Pumas – the latter a first-ever defeat at the hands of the Argentinians.

When South Africa and New Zealand squared off on neutral ground a year later, few knew what to expect from the rival nations and there was a palpable tension heading into the first of their two matches in Australia.

The Springboks has just dropped back-to-matches to the Wallabies while the All Blacks had scored two comfortable wins over the Pumas – yet it was generally accepted that form would be thrown out the window for what would be the 100th match between the two sides.

A close match ensued – one which was only decided in the final minutes of the game when Jordie Barrett kicked a long-range penalty to wrestle the lead back for the men in black after they’d held it for much of the game. The closeness of the match aside, however, it was hardly a game that would have enticed neutrals to take note of the sport, with the Springboks resorting to a box-kick-heavy strategy that prevented any sort of thrills from really taking over.

That happened the following week, however, when South Africa opted to play with a bit more flair and one of the sporting highlights of the year unfurled, with the Springboks eventually claiming a hard-fought 31-29 victory.

The series ended 1-1, and it was a similar story in 2022 with the All Blacks travelling over the republic for a two-match series to kick off their defence of the Rugby Championship.

In the opening game of the competition, the home side was able to suffocate their opposition of any consistent possession and made the most of the visitor’s errors. Malcolm Marx put on a stupendous performance in his 50th match in Springboks colours, demolishing the All Blacks at the breakdown and ultimately helping his side to their second-biggest win over NZ, 26-10.

For the Test in Johanessburg the following week, coach Jacques Nienaber absurdly decided to drop Marx to the bench and despite quickly realising his mistake, fast-tracking the No 16 onto the field before the half-hour mark, the All Blacks had been able to build some ascendency on the field and raced out to a 15-point lead before the Springboks were even able to get themselves on the board. South Africa fought their way back into the match – even taking the lead at the 67-minute mark – but the visitors ultimately prevailed 35-23.

That win at Ellis Park has perhaps been the All Blacks’ best performance of the year – although that’s not necessarily anything to gush about. The New Zealanders have been going through a bit of a rough patch since their battles with the Boks late last year, dropping games to France, Ireland and Argentina and things likely won’t get considerably easier on their upcoming end-of-year tour.

The point stands, however, that both the All Blacks and Springboks appear to have saved their best performances for their annual grudge matches, and the addition of one extra match at Twickenham ahead of next year’s World Cup will give fans the chance to see which side is in better condition heading into the competition.

Just six times throughout history have the teams squared off on neutral ground, with four of those matches coming in the past eight years.

Four of the fixtures have also been World Cup clashes, with the Springboks triumphing in the dead-rubber bronze play-off and the All Blacks coming out on top in the other three battles – including most recently during the pool stages of the 2019 tournament. The final two bouts were of course played as part of the 2021 Rugby Championship, with the victories shared.

The most recent games could have fallen either way and while a more favourable bounce of the ball could have turned either result on its head, supporters of both nations will be quietly confident that their team can get the upper hand at the next encounter.

While neither coach will want to reveal their full hand of cards on August 25 next year, before the World Cup has kicked off, Ian Foster and Jacques Nienaber will see the Twickenham clash as an important step on the road to glory. Whether the two sides top their respective pools or finish in second place, the quarter-finals will be titanic encounters but some strong momentum could pave the way to victory.

South Africa, of course, won’t want to have to take on the host nations during the knockout stages if they can help it, but whether finishing second or first in their pool it’s not obvious who they’ll face in their first fixtures of the sudden death portion of the tournament. The same could be said for NZ – who will have to take on a side that has tasted victory over them in recent years, one way or another.

August’s match might not count for anything come the World Cup – much in the same way that the All Blacks’ victory in 2019 ultimately didn’t help their chances of taking the William Web Ellis Cup – but it will provide some crucial momentum heading into the tournament, and both sides will certainly be doing all they can to earn a victory. There’s no such things as friendlies in rugby union, and the All Blacks and Springboks will undoubtedly prove that true at Twickenham in 2023.

Tickets on sale from 10am, 27 October via Ticketmaster and the RFU. Secure your seats early and be part of this historic match from £55 for Adults and £28 for Under-16s (Booking Fees apply).

Hospitality packages are available to purchase from £299 per person via www.twickenhamstadium.com