36 & Woe

The Rugby Championship is at its most critical stage. There are two rounds left and the race to win this year's edition is in open for any participating country. Everything is equallling out in terms of wins and losses. They have all won two and lost two. The main focal point of this past weekend's action was the loss suffered by New Zealand. It was a historic loss for them.

There has been a myriad of reactions from around the world.

The Sky Stadium has played host to some tough nights for New Zealand rugby in recent years but none as chastening as this.

This was the evening Erasmus silenced the critics who dared to write off South Africa’s Rugby Championship title defence and question whether the two-time World Cup winners’ era of dominance is at an end.

The occasion on which the Springboks, embarrassed by Australia in Johannesburg and their own worst enemies a week ago in Auckland, bit back. South Africa didn't just beat the All Blacks; they annihilated them. A 43-10 defeat is New Zealand’s heaviest ever defeat. They had never lost by more than 15 points on home soil.

According to The Telegraph, the All Blacks were pulverised.

South Africa stormed back from defeat at Eden Park by pulverising the All Blacks in a dominant second half comprising 36 unanswered points. New Zealand reached the break leading 10-7 but were comprehensively dismantled thereafter. The Springboks, marrying set-piece power with attacking accuracy, suggested that any reports of their demise have been exaggerated.

Going to France and the Midi Olympique, they state that South Africa claimed a resounding revenge.

After a first half where the two nations were evenly matched, the Springboks delivered a complete game of rugby at all levels; winning a stunning 43-10 victory.

Dominating in the conquest phases, efficient in the wings with a double from Kolbe in particular, Rassie Erasmus' men returned to their former glory in this Rugby Championship by taking a resounding revenge.

It was an exceptional match in terms of its interest, drama and consequences.

Between the All Blacks, who bounced back last week, fending off a good dose of pressure by winning and the Springboks, who are currently rather shaken up and who came with a team that was new in more ways than one; the duel promised to be incredible in the race for the Rugby Championship.

Cheslin Kolbe scored two of his side’s six tries, while the others were shared between Damian Willemse, Kwagga Smith, RG Snyman and Andre Esterhuizen.

Though the hosts had forged ahead with a slick score for debutant, Leroy Carter, Wellington continued to be a bogey venue for them and a chastening loss – the 33-point margin making this their heaviest-ever defeat – leaving New Zealand to limp into the Bledisloe Cup games against Australia.

The Independent headlined the result as the All Blacks being humiliated.

South Africa humiliated New Zealand and condemned the All Blacks to their heaviest ever defeat. After New Zealand held on for victory to extend their unbeaten streak at Eden Park last weekend, the Springboks scored 43 points in a sensational six-try victory to revive their Rugby Championship title hopes in Wellington.

The Guardian called it as the All Blacks humiliated by Springboks in Rugby Championship with heaviest ever defeat.

The All Blacks suffered their heaviest-ever test defeat as South Africa beat New Zealand 43-10 in Wellington to revive their Rugby Championship campaign. Cheslin Kolbe scored a try in each half and Damian Willemse, Kwagga Smith, RG Snyman and André Esterhuizen also touched down at the end of ambitious and clinical attacks as South Africa ran in six tries to one.

The All Blacks owed their win last week to their fast start: they scored two tries in the first 17 minutes for a 14-0 lead. On Saturday, the Springboks started as the strongest, repeatedly testing the All Blacks’ defence, which faded under the constant need to make tackles.

The result has been met by a surprisingly calm reflection.

Behind the scenes, however, head coach, Scott Robertson and company may not be as philosophical following a 43-10 humiliation; which will inevitably strengthen South Africa’s psychological advantage over New Zealand after their fifth victory in six Tests over their old foe dating back to before the 2023 World Cup.

"It obviously hurts," full-back, Damian McKenzie, said straight afterwards.

Otherwise, the All Blacks put on a brave face after a record defeat – which eclipsed their previous worst (35-7 to the Boks in 2023) and which blew away their previous highest margin of defeat at home (20-5 to Australia in 1964).

The All Blacks, who saw their biggest rivals retain the Freedom Cup after putting one hand on it by beating the Boks at Eden Park last weekend, preferred to congratulate the victors rather than to get into a blame game.

Clearly, conceding 36 unanswered points in the second half (another record), thanks to a sieve-like defence which was hamstrung by a sub-standard set piece and failure to win the ball in the air will be seen as unacceptable. At least, it should be.

After a promising start, which saw Leroy Carter score on his Test debut when finishing a superb team try that showcased New Zealand’s fundamentals. It all went south very quickly, the Boks running in six tries to Cheslin Kolbe (two, before he went off injured), Damian Willemse, Kwagga Smith, RG Snyman and Andre Esterhuizen.

All this despite a shocking run of first-half injuries to the visitors, which saw them forced to field halfback, Grant Williams, on the wing following the injury to Kolbe.

"They kept putting us under pressure," McKenzie said. "They’ve got a great kicking game, obviously. At times, we combatted it, at times, they kept turning us around. It’s never nice – when you take losses you want to get straight back into it… but we’ve just got to get back on the horse. We know what we’re capable of doing."

Asked what was said on the pitch after the final whistle, McKenzie added: "It obviously hurts after any defeat, but a defeat by that many points…there wasn’t a lot said."

For his part, head coach, Scott Robertson, said: "South Africa played very well and took their opportunities. Congratulations to them, we’ll take it on the chin."

"At half-time, it felt like we had done enough, although we had left a few opportunities out there. In the second half they won the aerial battle and the scraps. [We gave away] too many penalties around the set piece. We lost a couple of really big moments there and the game got away."

Asked whether the poor performance was due to poor preparation after the highs of extending the nation’s unbeaten record at Eden Park last weekend, Robertson said: “If it was preparation, we probably would have seen the signs earlier, but when they got rolling…."

"I just want to say, South Africa have been criticised for their kicking over the years, but they put so much value and time into that and the way they play they get return on it. They’re so good at it. We’ve done a lot of prep on it but they just owned that area and put so much pressure on us. Well done to them, they know their DNA."

"It felt like our backs were against the wall quite a bit. We still felt like we had opportunities, but we didn’t ice them, and they did.

The concerning thing for the All Blacks is not necessarily that every team will attempt similar tactics against them from here because not every team is as adept to the high-ball game as the Boks.

It will bring into question how Robertson’s men will fare against the Boks next year and, indeed, how good this team really is. The All Blacks will play three Tests on an extended, "Greatest Rivals" tour in 2026, plus one more at a neutral venue, and at this point, they will be big underdogs to get anywhere near a series victory.

I wrote a piece on the tour when it initially came out. You can check it out here.

McKenzie said: "We have to keep believing in ourselves…we have a tight circle. We’ll have a good look at ourselves and at our performance – as we do after any game, win or lose. We’ll do that and keep tight. We knew we would get a response after last weekend, and they responded better than we did."

Captain, Scott Barrett, suggested the set piece was a big disappointment. He did not say it, but the spotlight will go on Brodie McAlister’s performance at hooker after he replaced Samisoni Taukei’aho for the final quarter. Barrett added: "There will be some discomfort, clearly, but I’m sure this team will use that discomfort to bounce forward in the Bledisloe to finish this Championship strongly."

Robertson said it was important to be focused on the things that mattered as they went about recovering from what was a devastating defeat.

"We’re not going to be chasing too many things," he said. “We’re going to be clear about what matters most to us on and off the field. We’ll get a plan and look forward to the next game.”

Rassie Erasmus is not getting carried away with a dominant Springboks performance in the New Zealand capital, despite dishing out the All Blacks‘ biggest ever defeat, again.

The coach sipped a beer as he sat before the media at the Sky Stadium, cutting a much more relaxed figure than he did one week prior. His side put together a five-try second-half performance to retain the Freedom Cup and keep their hopes of a Rugby Championship double alive. Never before had an All Blacks team been put to the sword like it.

For Erasmus, the lessons of the past are ever-present and a certain loss at the hands of New Zealand back in 2017 was at the front of his mind as he put the result in perspective.

"We’ve been on the other side, when we got 57 away from home. So, there’s no need for us to celebrate too much, because the respect we have for them; they’ve given us shots many times," the coach said.

"We’re just glad we got five points and we’re in the mix in The Rugby Championship. Everyone talked about the (Eden Park) record last week; they kept the record and didn’t put it in our faces."

"The scoreline is nice, for the guys to hang in there is nice. It’s more for us about what we’re trying to achieve. I know what it feels like in that other changing room. So, it’s nice, but I don’t think we have to dwell on that."

2017’s 57-0 defeat was the Springboks’ largest in the team’s history and yet, they bounced back to win the Rugby World Cup two years later.

The day before this Test, team captain, Siya Kolisi, was insistent that the selection changes made between last week’s Eden Park Test and this one were about rewarding players rather than simply giving the, "young guys" a run.

Erasmus echoed that sentiment post-match. "Firstly, what I want to say is, we always tried to say, there are a couple of realities. There’s the opposition’s reality, our reality and what the world’s reality is, and there’s the truth."

"The truth was they had eight players with less than 10 caps and we only had two with less than 10 caps. So we always saw it that way, that we’d been building and giving guys chances at certain stages."

"We were very happy with the performances they had, but the way the guys who didn’t play this week prepared them for this game, because they played last week against the All Black team, and at one stage they were really giving us shots."

"So we’re happy to say we’ve used other players, but yes, guys put up their hands and they showed they can do it at this stage. So it’s nice ot know that."

"We had a lot of injuries today, in this match. I’m not quite sure what the extent of those injuries are. But it’s more about the trust from the older guys, to prepare the younger guys, which is really nice."

"But New Zealand played, also, with eight guys with less than 10 caps, so that was our reality going into this game."

To me, this just adds more issues for New Zealand. This comes after their loss to Argentina a few weeks ago. After this, there's no telling where the All Blacks go from here. It seems that they are more vulnerable than ever. If this continues into the final two rounds, Australia have a strong chance of winning The Rugby Championship.