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Conquering the All Black fortress is enough motivation for 2025 Boks

rugby11 December 2024 12:30
By:Brenden Nel
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All blacks @ Getty Images

While Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus is expected to start showing his hand for the 2027 Rugby World Cup during the next Incoming Tour schedule in July and is likely to give more starting roles to younger and more inexperienced Boks, there is still a Holy Grail to be claimed in the 2025 international season.

For the team that has seemingly won everything, including back to back World Cups, and a British and Irish Lions tour, Erasmus’ core Boks have a new challenge waiting in the Castle Lager Rugby Championship next season when they can break the longest winning streak of any international side at a rugby ground.

The All Blacks hold this amazing record at their hallowed ground at Eden Park, having last lost a game there in 1994 against France, and despite several teams coming close - including the Boks - the record still stands.

The announcement earlier this week that the Boks would play their two tests against New Zealand in the Land of the Long White Cloud was nothing new earlier this week. The rotation nature of the tournament means the Boks will host Australia for two games after playing two games Down Under this year.

But what was interesting was the decision to schedule the much-anticipated first test between the two sides at Eden Park - where the All Blacks hold that same record.

You’d have to go back to 2010 for the last time the Springboks played at Eden Park - a test that sticks out in the memory for the pure reason that Bakkies Botha headbutted Jimmy Cowan early on in an incident that overshadowed the test and saw the Boks later lost 32-12 in a one-sided contest.

Since then the Boks have played at Mount Smart stadium in Auckland and at North Harbour stadium just outside Auckland - the latter being the infamous 57-0 loss that cast such a dark shadow over the 2017 Boks.

And most of their meetings in New Zealand have been in Wellington, where the second test against the All Blacks has been played.

The Boks have won the last four games against the All Blacks - which is itself a record - with those games including the big win at Twickenham, and the World Cup final in Paris last year. With some sour grapes still surrounding that loss from some former All Black coaches, it is clear it will fuel sentiment against the Boks before the two tests, and the Kiwi public will be looking for a Springbok scalp after years of domination against the Boks before the recent run.

The two tests against the Boks also precede the first major tour between the two sides in 2026, which is set to be an epic event.

Both these tests in 2025 and the tour in 2026 will definitely be enough to keep a number of double World Cup winning Boks from retiring early and could be the catalyst to get them to the 2027 World Cup.

Erasmus has already indicated he will settle more on a squad of 35 for next year’s tests, which means some players are likely to fall by the wayside and a number of these could be older Boks who are not expected to make the 2027 World Cup.

Two that are expected to take a backseat are fullback Willie le Roux, who is likely to get his 100th test at home in July and winger Makazole Mapimpi, who has already said he won’t make the next World Cup.

But the prospect of winning in New Zealand - which at times seemed almost impossible - and especially at Eden Park - which for the last 30-years has been impossible, can serve as enough motivation for any Bok player.

And the prospect that there is another epic milestone to conquer, makes 2025 a very interesting prospect indeed.

Springbok home fixtures in 2025 (venues and kick-off times TBC):

5 July: SA v Italy

12 July: SA v Italy

19 July: SA v Georgia

16 August: SA v Australia

23 August: SA v Australia

27 September: SA v Argentina

All Blacks full domestic schedule: (times are NZ time)

July Series

v France, Saturday 5 July, 7.05pm, Forsyth Barr Stadium, DUNEDIN

v France, Saturday 12 July, 7.05pm, Sky Stadium, WELLINGTON

v France, Saturday 19 July, 7.05pm, FMG Stadium Waikato, HAMILTON

Rugby Championship

v South Africa, Saturday 6 September, 7.05pm, Eden Park, AUCKLAND *Freedom Cup

v South Africa, Saturday 13 September, 7.05pm, Sky Stadium, WELLINGTON *Freedom Cup

v Australia, Saturday 27 September, 5.05pm, Eden Park, AUCKLAND *Bledisloe Cup

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