Dricus du Plessis ensured it was South Africans smiling and New Zealanders crying after the big UFC title fight in Perth at the weekend, but now the stage is set for a more traditional yet even more seismic battle between the southern nations.
The two historic global rugby powerhouses contested the Rugby World Cup final in October last year, with the Springboks prevailing in a nailbiter, and the All Blacks will come to South Africa now to play two games that will effectively decide who wins the 2024 edition of the Castle Lager Rugby Championship.
Not only will the Kiwis, who have a new coach in Scott Robertson in charge subsequent to the RWC final, come here with revenge on their minds, their opening defeat means they are in the rare position of chasing the game in the Championship.
The All Blacks are back on track in the 2024 Rugby Championship 👏🇳🇿#TRC2024 pic.twitter.com/jhxvRKXu3m
— SuperSport Rugby (@SSRugby) August 17, 2024
They will probably need to win both games, the first in Johannesburg on 31 August and the second in Cape Town a week later, if they are to stand a chance of retaining the Championship title they have hogged since the inception of the competition in 2012 for all but two years - the World Cup years of 2015 (won by Australia) and 2019 (South Africa).
KIWIS BOAST GOOD RECENT RECORD IN SA
This past weekend the All Blacks stood up from their defeat to the Pumas by comprehensively winning the return clash at Eden Park in Auckland, where the hosts have now completed a ridiculous 50 games over a 30-year period without tasting defeat.
𝐅𝐈𝐅𝐓𝐘 𝐖𝐈𝐓𝐇𝐎𝐔𝐓 𝐃𝐄𝐅𝐄𝐀𝐓 𝐅𝐎𝐑 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐀𝐋𝐋 𝐁𝐋𝐀𝐂𝐊𝐒 😲🏉
— SuperSport Rugby (@SSRugby) August 17, 2024
Eden Park is a fortress for New Zealand 🔥 #TRC2024 pic.twitter.com/L7pYTpq0T3
Although most South Africans would probably have been hoping Argentina could keep the All Blacks on the back foot and demoralise them further ahead of their tour, the big New Zealand win was probably the perfect result for the Boks.
In the sense that the pressure is already on them as hosts and reigning global champs, and they would have had it all to lose had the All Blacks arrived here ranked as no hopers.
Now they do come with some hope, and that is how it would have been anyway - the way the All Blacks play and their skill level always gives them a chance on any given day against any opponent, particularly on a fast and probably dry surface in Johannesburg.
They haven’t lost at Emirates Airlines Park since 2014, and there is a reason for that. Indeed, defeat as been rare for them on the highveld in the last two decades.
For those who think that the Boks have a massive advantage at home here is a sobering statistic - the All Blacks have lost just twice in South Africa since they broke a World Cup winning drought on their home soil in 2011 - with the good Bok win in Mbombela two years ago breaking an eight year losing sequence.
The All Blacks will feel much better about their chances of continuing that dominance after their decimation of Argentina than they did before.
After a nervy series win over England and the defeat to the Pumas, Robertson’s time in charge was getting off to a poor start and there were questions about the clarity of the game plan.
The Kiwis are in a rebuilding phase after all.
However at Eden Park two days ago they found that clarity, with perhaps the wet conditions helping them in the sense that they were forced to play a game that accentuated the basics and kept things simple. They brought the aggression and intent that was lacking from their performance in Wellington the previous week, and most importantly, their forwards dominated.
BOK SCRUM WILL PRESENT A DIFFERENT CHALLENGE
The scrum in particular was a big talking point among Kiwi pundits afterwards, and their complete dominance of that phase ensured the All Blacks were always on the front foot.
But here is the caveat, and why the Boks will still start the mini-series as strong favourites - Argentina are not South Africa.
And the dominance achieved over the Pumas will be hard to replicate against the world champions.
The Boks of course made their own statement at the weekend. And their forwards particularly so.
In a game against Australia at Optus Stadium in Perth, the Bok team featured 10 changes and a positional switch from the side that easily won the first game in Brisbane.
There were understandable nerves among South African supporters, particularly when it was learned that rugby’s great leveller, wet weather, would come into play.
Then there was the further leveller delivered during the game - the last half hour was played with uncontested scrums due to a freaky wave of Wallaby front row injuries.
That was the period when the Boks, with the replacements on, were poised to flick the switch and really take control of the scrums.
Instead the uncontested scrums presented the Wallabies with guaranteed front foot ball.
That cued in the Bok defence, and it was outstanding, as it was throughout the 80 minutes.
The hosts never looked like scoring a try in the game, not even when the scrums were uncontested.
And with the chance to dominate the scrums gone, the Boks just flicked the switch to their feared driving maul instead.
The maul didn’t work so well, in fact it didn’t work at all, in the series against an Ireland team that prides itself on its maul defence.
But against the Wallabies it was back to its most destructive best, and there are still questions over the stopping abilities of the All Blacks in that department.
It wasn’t as comprehensive a win as Brisbane and they only properly put the Wallabies away late in the game, but that was always going to be the case on such an inclement Western Australian day and against an opponent that did front better physically than the previous week.
The @Springboks retain the Nelson Mandela Challenge Plate for the first time in ten years 🏆📸
— SuperSport Rugby (@SSRugby) August 19, 2024
A fourth consecutive Test win over the Wallabies - South Africa's longest streak in the professional era 🙌 pic.twitter.com/5SA9iW5ixT
PUMAS MAY HAVE BEEN OVER-HYPED
Of course, Australia are now the 9th ranked team in the world, but the victory was achieved with a much changed up team and it was in Australia, where the Boks have struggled in the professional era.
Much was made of the Argentina record in New Zealand since the 2019 World Cup, and they were much hyped after the win in Wellington, but how good are they really?
Had it not been for the defeat in the first game, there’d be less of the hype there now is around the All Blacks.
Argentina did make the World Cup semifinal, something they achieved with a quarterfinal win over Wales, but it wasn’t a great tournament for them. They haven’t been that great over the past 24 months.
So while the All Blacks do come to South Africa with confidence restored, the unknown quantity of a Pumas side that just looked like it didn’t pitch at New Zealand’s most intimidating fortress means they still come as underdogs.
What Eden Park did do though was erase any potential of them being underestimated, not by the Bok players themselves, for that would never happen against a team they have way too much respect for, but by an expectant South African rugby public.
WEEKEND RESULTS
New Zealand 42 Argentina 10
Australia 12 South Africa 30
NEXT GAMES
South Africa v New Zealand (31 August, Johannesburg, 5pm)
Argentina v Australia (1 September, Buenos Aires, Midnight)