Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus was humble in his reaction to his team’s record 43-10 win over the All Blacks and he was on the mark when he said nothing has been achieved yet but it is hard to escape the feeling that this Castle Lager Rugby Championship is South Africa’s to lose.
A rather dubious refereeing call that allowed the Wallabies a try off what looked like a blatant forward pass that netted them a losing bonus point in Sydney earlier in the day has kept the Australian team on the top of the log by that solitary point. Had it not been for that late try, it would be the Boks who would be top of the log on points difference with two matches to play.
Instead the Wallabies hold that one point advantage on the All Blacks, who because of their wide margin of defeat at Sky Stadium now have an inferior points difference to the Boks, who they are level with on points, with Argentina last, just one point further back.
So it is all to play for, and the margins of error are small, which is what Erasmus would have been thinking when he was asked about the way forward post the seismic win in Wellington.
“We’ve achieved nothing. Everyone is still in the competition, and we will still have to face a well-drilled Argentina outfit in the next few weeks,” said Erasmus.
“We made a few errors in the first 30 minutes (in Wellington), and we have no doubt New Zealand will pick themselves up from this result. We’ll enjoy this one and start looking at Argentina tomorrow.”
The All Black response to the biggest drubbing in their proud history could be key to who challenges the Boks for the title they won last year.
New Zealanders have a history of reacting badly to even a one point defeat, let alone one by 33 points, and like was the case for the Boks after their recent loss to Australia in Johannesburg, the manner of their defeat might blow their confidence.
They have held the Bledisloe Cup, the trophy played for by the two trans-Tasman rivals that coincides with the Championship, for the past two decades, but there will be a nervy element to their buildup to the next game, which happens to be against the Australians at their fortress of Eden Park.
It is hard to see though either the Australian team or the New Zealand team winning both of those games with try scoring bonus points, which in the Championship requires you to score three more tries than your opposition.
With the Boks against the Pumas, even given the recent improvement of Argentina, two wins looks far more likely - particularly given that Argentina gave away their home ground advantage when they agreed to play the final game of the competition at Twickenham.
LIKELY LONDON WILL BE THE DECIDER
It is looking increasingly likely that the London game will be the decider, and that will favour the Boks given the huge expatriate community living there plus their great recent record at the home of English rugby.
It was at Twickenham that the Boks achieved their previous record win over the All Blacks, 35-7, but that was in a World Cup warmup game. There were questions afterwards about how committed the Kiwis were to that game.
This latest clash, with the Championship on the line, and a New Zealand win would have put them in the pound seats, was very different.
Which is what made it such a heady achievement for a Bok team that perfected the balance to the game that sounded such a warning to the rest of the world, but was subsequently forgotten because of the end result, in the first 20 minutes against the Wallabies in Johannesburg.
In that game the Boks departed from the script because they were seduced how easily they got on top of Australia, but in Wellington they retained the right balance between kicking and running throughout and that gave them more control. Whereas in Johannesburg it was the Boks who were out on their feet because of the tempo, this time it was the All Blacks who were blowing air bubbles soon after halftime.
Reaction from Rassie Erasmus: “We’ve achieved nothing - everyone is still in the competition, and we will still have to face a well-drilled Argentina outfit in the next few weeks” 🗣#Springboks #ForeverGreenForeverGold #NZLvRSA
— Springboks (@Springboks) September 13, 2025
STATEMENT PERFORMANCE
The bottom line was that it was a statement performance from the Boks and would have regained the confidence they clearly lost post Johannesburg and if they play anything close to that level in the remaining two games they should complete a back to back Championship triumph for the first time in Bok history.
There are some injury-inspired potential curve balls to deal with before Argentina arrive in Durban next week ahead of the 27 September clash.
“We do have a couple of injuries, which we do not know the extent of yet, but the two that appear to be serious are Lood (de Jager) and Aphelele (Fassi),” said Erasmus.
Fassi was in a moon boot at the end of the game in Wellington and looks almost certain to be unavailable for the game at his home ground of Hollywoodbets Kings Park, which would be a pity if it means that Damian Willemse has to move from the inside centre position where he won the man of the match award in Wellington.
The Boks are en route home during the course of Sunday and will have a few days off before regathering in Durban on Thursday.