The Springboks picked up their biggest ever win over the All Blacks in their history, in Wellington on Saturday.
The Springboks produced one of their best ever performances to pick up a record 43-10 win over the All Blacks at the “Cake Tin” in Wellington on Saturday.
The result blew open the Rugby Championship, with the Wallabies top of the log on 11 points, after going down 28-26 to Argentina in Sydney earlier, with the Boks now second, level on 10 points with the All Blacks but ahead on points difference, and Los Pumas fourth on nine.
Here are for talking points from an incredible match:
Wasteful first half
It was a wasteful first half from the Springboks who had the better chances but found themselves trailing 10-7 at halftime. It was a top start from the visitors but they just couldn’t finish off their early dominance which let them down and allowed the All Blacks to lead first.
An overthrown lineout in their 22m, a fantastic cover tackle from Jordie Barrett as Cheslin Kolbe went over the tryline, stopping him from dotting down, and a knock on picked up by the TMO in the build-up to RG Snyman scoring, were the early chances missed by the Boks.
That allowed the All Blacks to take the lead with their first 22m entry, as debutant Leroy Carter went over in the corner for the converted score. The Boks did respond through an intercept try from Kolbe, while a Damian McKenzie penalty gave the hosts a narrow lead at the break.
First half disruptions
The Springboks were heavily disrupted, particularly in the first half, by a slew of head injury assessments (HIAs) and injuries, which may have contributed to their disjointed display over the first 40 minutes.
Lock Lood de Jager was first off injured within the first 10 minutes, replaced by RG Snyman, followed by Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu before the 20 minute mark for an HIA which he failed, as Manie Libbok stepped in for the rest of the match.
Cobus Reinach went off for an HIA check in the 32nd minute, but luckily returned at the start of the second half, and Aphelele Fassi was carted off with a leg or ankle injury just before halftime, replaced by Andre Esterhuizen.
Try scoring hero Cheslin Kolbe then went off injured early in the second half, with Grant Williams playing on the wing the rest of the game.
Brilliant, record breaking second half
In contrast to their wasteful first half, the Springboks were clinical and ruthless in the second half as they ran in five unanswered tries to power their way to their biggest ever win over the All Blacks, eclipsing their previous best, the 35-7 win at Twickenham in 2023.
It started with a big scrum, Siya Kolisi break, and a long pass from Andre Esterhuizen to Kolbe, who went in for a try for the Boks and into the lead in the 42nd minute, with them never relinquishing it. A Libbok penalty, and a fantastic score to a stepping Damian Willemse put them 24-10 up after 60 minutes.
An amazing final quarter then followed as the Boks powered away, with an Ethan Hooker break and Libbok cross kick ending with Kwagga Smith scoring, followed by Snyman running a great line to finally get his try, and Esterhuizen busting over at the end as they finished with a flourish.
Fantastic performances all round
It was a fantastic effort from the whole match 23 that contributed to their biggest ever win over the All Blacks, while it was also the Boks’ third straight game unbeaten in Wellington after a draw and win in their previous two games at the “Cake Tin”.
A lot was said about the bold changes that coach Rassie Erasmus made to the Bok backline, but they paid off massively in the end. Willemse produced a man of the match performance, starting at inside centre and finishing at fullback.
Young Hooker was electric, Canan Moodie was back to his best at outside centre, and Fassi was great before going off injured near the end of the first half.
Veterans Kolbe and Reinach were also in top nick. The replacements also made their mark, with Snyman brutal coming on early and Williams amazing on the wing two of the standouts.
