The dust is still settling on the amazing win over the All Blacks on Saturday and New Zealand Rugby is right in the middle of their own soul-searching process to find out just why their beloved team fell apart like that.
But while the Springboks produced a display for the ages, and the young talent put up its hand in no uncertain terms and demanded to be seen, you couldn’t help thinking that another argument had been settled in the process.
It may sound strange, but for months before the Rugby Championship we had heard every single kiwi pundit, from the ex-players on the Breakdown, to the radio folks we see snippets of on twitter all say the same thing. Super Rugby this year was brilliant and is far superior to any other competition in World Rugby.
HUBRIS ISN’T SURPRISING
That sort of hubris isn’t surprising. For years we were part of Super Rugby and believed the same, that there was no other competition in World Rugby that could compete. We sneered at the European competitions that would lure away our players with their Euros and Pounds and wished we could just show them once and for all how good we were.
Saturday’s win may be a massive blip on the radar for both sides, but it is a vindication of the move to the Vodacom United Rugby Championship. And while the All Blacks will rise again, it is a massive reminder of how much they miss us in Super Rugby.
I was having a conversation with Jamie Wall, a friend and Radio New Zealand’s rugby man when he mentioned being at the stadium on Saturday and when the tide turned, and the Boks got on top and drove their advantage home that it felt very much like a Super Rugby Pacific game rather than a test.
The type of game where one team gets on top and the others’ heads drop and the scoreline balloons.
Now that has never been the way anyone would describe a Bok-All Black test in the past. Jamie’s written enough books on the rivalry to not make a comment like that without substance.
And it stuck with me. The echoes of that argument of Super Rugby being better and the hubris surrounding All Black rugby.
At times South Africans are very guilty of it as well, but the stats don’t lie.
STATS DON’T LIE
Just a look back at things post Covid puts it very much into perspective (And here we have to remind readers that it was New Zealand who decided they didn’t want South Africa in Super Rugby back at the start of the Covid pandemic and wanted to go it alone).
While the Boks lost their first game in Townsville - the 100th between the two sides - by a late penalty 19-17, the record since then has been more one-sided than the All Blacks would admit.
They won the next game with an Elton Jantjies penalty at the end and then produced that dominant display to win 26-10 in Mbombela - a scoreline that could have been a lot bigger.
Going to Ellis Park after that the All Blacks were under pressure and Ian Foster’s job was on the line - and the Boks selections probably cost them that day - as Foster saved his job with a 35-23 win.
But overall, the record since Covid sits at the Boks winning 7 of the last 11 - or 7 of the last 10 if you discount the Townsville test.
ELLIS PARK 2022 SAVED FOSTER’S JOB
That isn’t just a lopsided stat, it is dominance, even though the rivalry is still very much alive. The only other times the Boks have lost since Covid was at Mount Smart in 2023, when the All Blacks won 35-20 and two weeks ago at Eden Park. And in the Eden Park game, many Bok pundits were talking about the opportunity lost that two early tries cost the Boks victory and given their comeback they should have won.
The other games have seen the 35-7 record victory at Twickenham, the one-point win in the World Cup final, two wins last season in Joburg and Cape Town and now this victory - the biggest defeat for the All Blacks ever on New Zealand soil.
Given the talent that is in the Springbok set-up right now, and the defeats the All Blacks have suffered to other nations in the past, there is a real chance of a gap opening up. New Zealand have over the past few years tried to increase their exposure to South African teams with the Under-20 Sanzaar tournament and next year’s Greatest Rivalry tour as perfect examples.
MOVE TO EUROPE WAS THE RIGHT ONE
But the truth is still there. While South Africans have for the most part been surprised at the efficiency and the professionalism of European clubs, the move to the URC has been exceptionally positive for rugby locally.
It has given a springboard to local talent to play international - and often test-like - conditions while it has lured that missing experience back home to the four franchises, which has benefitted the young talent coming up.
SA Rugby has also streamlined their pathways and the professional outlook now with Dave Wessels rejigging the entire pipeline has paid dividends as well. Where New Zealand rugby has stagnated in a Super Pacific dominance, South Africa has flourished in the URC.
BOK DOMINANCE ISN’T BY CHANCE
That record above is six wins out of nine since the inaugural URC season and that isn’t by chance. Yes, Rassie Erasmus’ team has done wonders in bringing through young players and getting the best out of all players in a Springbok jersey.
But it is hard to look at Saturday’s result and not think that New Zealand’s decision to exclude SA from Super Rugby has come back to bite them hard.
There is no more argument about what is the best for South African rugby and the amount of talent coming through is testament to that.
Saturday’s result was more than just a big win. It was confirmation that the moves - from Rassie’s chopping and changing of teams - to the URC shift to Europe - had all been the right ones.
And it was the silencing of a debate on which competition is better for test rugby.
The All Blacks will be back, but on Saturday they lost a big part of their magic. And that decision back in Covid times is now haunting them.