The Springboks are still top of the pile and the team to beat after winning the series against the All Blacks 3-1.
The Springboks celebrate a try by Cameron Hanekom as All Blacks players look on in defeat. Picture: Caean Couto/Getty Images
Well, what a few weeks of rugby it has been.
It flew by, but what a wonderful series. And at the end of it, the Springboks are still boss!
In a year from now, the 2027 World Cup will be two weeks away from kicking off and you can be sure the Boks will have a target on their backs, as has been the case for a few years now.
But, coach Rassie Erasmus will want nothing else, because it seems the Boks thrive under pressure and when they’re written off.
In the last few weeks when the All Blacks were beating second and third string URC sides and edged the Boks at Ellis Park in the first Test, many might have felt the writing was on the wall.
But, as they’ve done so many times under Erasmus, they hit back, winning the next three Tests to take the Greatest Rivalry series.
It was a deserved win, because the Boks were the better team. Period.
All Blacks outplayed
Not in a long time has a New Zealand side seemed so average as the one put out by Dave Rennie. Yes, they played some sparkling rugby at times, scored some pretty tries, and there’s no doubt they have some quality players, but this All Blacks team didn’t scare the Boks like teams of the past did.
Rennie’s side was perhaps a bit soft upfront, and when the pressure was on and when the Boks’ power game came to the fore, they didn’t have an answer.
But, they’ll get stronger, more determined and they’ll look to build greater depth and they’ll challenge the Boks again. As it should be … and I can’t wait for the next instalment of Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry in New Zealand in 2030.
And hopefully there can be more proper tours in future … imagine England coming here for four Tests; that would also be fun.
For now, we can and should again celebrate the Boks who, despite not being at their best, won the series 3-1.
Rugby is alive and well
There were ups and downs, there was a bit of bickering, and there were refereeing issues, again … but overall, what a wonderful few weeks of rugby.
Plenty of lessons would have been learned, mainly about the “midweek games’ and perhaps making it a three-Test series next time, but Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry lived up to the hype and gave us everything we hoped it would.
South African and New Zealand rugby fans were fully invested in the series, but so was the rest of the watching world. And you can’t ask for more than that.
Rugby in South Africa is truly alive and well. And long may this Boks-All Blacks rivalry continue.
