The only All Black who remembers losing to the Springboks in New Zealand
There will be motivation aplenty for both teams tomorrow when the All Blacks face the Springboks at Albany, but the most motivated of all might be the only guy in the All Blacks team who remembers what it is like to lose to South Africa in New Zealand.
They’ve pretty much all gone now, by way of retirement or fresh pastures or injury – both physical and emotional. They were the All Blacks who lost to South Africa 32-29 in Hamilton, and who watched on as the visitors held aloft the Freedom Cup and the Tri-Nations title. It was 2009, in between the angst of the 2007 Rugby World Cup exit and the elation of the 2011 Rugby World Cup victory. It was an in-between time, as it is now.
Six of that side – Tony Woodcock, Richie McCaw, Kieran Read, Dan Carter, Ma’a Nonu and Mils Muliaina – would go on to win 100 caps for their country, before hanging up the boots or heading abroad. Some joined the diaspora early, while others stuck around and got their hands on Wiremu. It was a team that had a world champion spine, and yet for all the class it boasted, it was a team that still fell short on the scoresheet.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rK4PORUTb2w
On that day, the All Blacks were harangued at every turn by a fearsome South African pack, and shellshocked by the field gun boot of Francois Steyn. They lost their lineouts and dropped their passes. They still managed to come within one scoring play of denying the Springboks back to back wins in New Zealand, that has to be acknowledged, but they were defeated in the end. Schalk Burger popped his rib that day, and left the field giggling.
Only one All Black from that game remains in the side to play tomorrow. As luck would have it, that player is the skipper Kieran Read. You can be he has not forgotten that occasion. Across from him that day were the likes of Burger, and Ryan Kankowski and Pierre Spies and Heinrich Brussow – each an exemplar of their particular area of expertise in the loose. They were by turns frightening and lightning. Their modern day equivalents – especially Siya Kolisi and Jean-Luc du Preez – have hallmarks of their forebears.
It was a Springbok victory built upon constant pressure, and a home team performance that in many ways is mirrored the mixed bag thus far served up by the All Blacks in 2017. There have been moments of genuine sublimity, but many more moments of uncharacteristic chaos, as if two axioms are at war within the All Blacks strategy – he who hesitates may well be lost, but surely less haste, more speed is required.
it was chaotic in 2009 in that match in Hamilton, and Read well knows that there must be calmness instilled in this team for the Albany test, and that he must be the one to instil it. The All Blacks say success is a lousy teacher, but home defeat is a schoolyard bully which taunts its victims and burdens them with a grudge that can last for many years. It has likely gnawed away at Read for the last eight of them. He will not wish to relive that feeling.
It seems crazy to think that he alone carries the memory of that last home defeat into this test match. Of that 2009 team only Read, Owen Franks and Jerome Kaino remain, and the latter duo are currently sidelined. It is Read’s burden this weekend, as is the leadership of a team that has at times been the Fourth of July, at others a damp box of firecrackers.
Read has stated publicly that the All Blacks will be on guard on Saturday night. Though South Africa’s fortunes have fluctuated far more wildly than those of the New Zealanders over recent years, the deep and abiding respect between these two great foes has remained the one true constant in the southern hemisphere.
The All Blacks humiliated the Springboks in Durban last year, but that will feel like a lifetime ago for the New Zealanders once the whistle blows this weekend. For Kieran Read, that result in 2009 will come to him as a whispered conversation from yesterday. And he will understand each word.
Of course, there is one thing he can feel good about. He may well remember the last time the All Blacks lost at home to the Springboks, but there is not one man on the other side of Saturday’s contest who can say they know what it is like to beat the All Blacks on New Zealand soil. Read will be desperate to make sure that’s the way it remains, for one more year at least.
Comments on RugbyPass
What a sad way to end a glittering career. Somebody should tell him to delete his social media accounts and face the consequences of what he's done. Then he should slip away quietly into obscurity. This isn't likely to happen, something tells me he'll be back in The Sun / Daily Mail sooner rather than later.
2 Go to commentsguys its fine! he understands why he did what he did and has taken accountability for it; why should he have to be accountable to a court? after all he did was abuse people in person - its not as if he was engaging in _online_ abuse!
2 Go to commentsChiefs flanker Kaylum Boshier yellow-carded for collapsing the scrum as it rolled towards the line. It was a maul….
1 Go to commentsyou know, i’m a leinster fan so I want Northampton to lose and it is gonna be tuff with Cortney lawes, Alex michell and the other guys🏉 lets go leinster🏉
1 Go to commentsWelcome to the Pro ranks. Those hard teams of old do hit the sole better though. its a dog fight at the top.
6 Go to commentsCan someone fill me in please, I've read a number of Ben Smith articles now and it seems he's got something again South Africa? Surely, this game was over and done with 7 months ago. Can't we have something a bit more interesting and relevant, or is this the calibre of journalist on this site?
228 Go to commentsNot sure what the Welsh are moaning about. They’ve had far more players off England, than England have had off Wales. Guys like Josh Hathaway and Kane James will play for Wales in the end. And they’ll be fsr better players for having played in the Gallagher Premiership, than they ever would have been had they stayed mired in the shambles that is Welsh rugby.
3 Go to commentsThis is all being blown totally out of proportion. First of all, since half the Irish team isn’t Irish - it’s very likely that none of the Irish players said that at all and, thus, we’re not being arrogant. Second, since half the Irish team is Kiwi - it’s very likely the Kiwi players were predicting a NZ SA World Cup final. Which they got spot on. Good on them!
163 Go to commentsAha. An Irishman with logic! Follow the flow: - Ireland peaks with a >80% win record between 2020 and 2023. And then… - crashes out of another QF at the WC; - Beat a poor French Team; - Beat 6N wooden spoonists Italy; - Play shite against eventual wooden spoonists Wales; - Lose against the most boring, “the worst English team ever” , a team widely regarded as unable to attack; - scrape through against Scotland. This article, No - Trimble, is on the money! Except for one glaring statement: _The Springboks have a few aces in the hole in this debate being the reigning world champions and official world number ones_ There is no debate, boys and girls. There it is. In black and white. “Reigning World Champions and OFFICIAL world number ones”. Come July, the overrated Andy Farrell and this overhyped team are going to enter into a world of hurt.
86 Go to commentsI’d like to know what homoerotic events Daniel enjoyed at 8th man. I clearly missed out!
19 Go to commentsThis article is missing some detail, like some actual context or info about what led to him abusing the ref.
2 Go to comments*They used to say that football is a gentleman sport watched by hooligans and rugby is a hooligan sport watched by gentlemen. How times have changed.*
3 Go to commentsexcept ot wasnt late wasnt late at all so dont know why you all saying its late he commits early and its your fault fir not paying attention
30 Go to commentsNot sure the Bulls need another average utility back in their ranks. Chamberlain has been ok for the Sharks but is by no means an X-Factor player. Bulls bought several utility backs which they barely use. A typical example would be Henry Immelman who plays mostly Fullback. The Bulls however have rarely played him this year and he has played wing or centre. Bulls want to build depth but seems like they have too many surplus players
1 Go to commentsABs lost against a side playing without a hooker - The guy playing, had one shoulder. Line outs were a gimme for the ABs, and the last 8 minutes 14 played 14 against a team that had been smashed 3 weeks in a row… Yet with all that possession, with all that territory, with all the advantages they actually had, especially in the last 8 minutes, they couldn’t buy a point. Those last 8 minutes determined if they outplayed the Boks or not. History will show that the Boks completely outplayed the ABs, especially in those last 8 minutes, the business end of any rugby match
228 Go to commentsWould’ve, could’ve, should’ve, didn’t.
228 Go to commentsKok will become a fan favourite
1 Go to commentsI am really looking forward to Leigh Halfpenny playing his first Super rugby game for the Crusaders Playing a long side his former Welsh and Scarlets team mate Johnny McNicoll.Johnny has been playing great, back in a Crusaders jersey.The attack has strengthened big time. Also looking forward to David Havili at 10. David is a class act, it also allows Dallas McLeod to remain at 12. A good thing.
1 Go to commentsIf he had stopped insisting on playing in the backrow, instead of wing, where everyone told him he should, he would have been a Bok years ago….
11 Go to comments‘Salads don’t win scrums’ 😂 I love that.
19 Go to comments