Not so fast South Africa, don't crown yourselves
There’s some suggestion that if the Springboks were to successfully defend the Rugby World Cup, in addition to winning a British and Irish Lions series in 2021, it would comprise the greatest rugby dynasty of all time.
Though unquestionably worthy of respect, statistically the argument is flawed. There is even a case to be made that it isn’t even the strongest period in South African rugby history.
Since 2019 the Springboks have won 32 of 45 internationals but have yet to beat Ireland or France, consistently ranked the best teams in the world in that period.
Furthermore, the Springboks are only 3-4 record against the All Blacks and have lost to weak Wales and Aussie outfits.
In football parlance, the Springboks are a ‘Cup’ team, not a ‘league’ team. They can reach lofty campaign peaks but are not consistently brilliant over a long span of time.
Unquestionably the most dominant rugby dynasty in history is the All Blacks run from a 33-6 win against Australia on September 19, 2009, to a 29-40 loss to Ireland in Chicago on November 9, 2016. In that span, the All Blacks won the 2011 and 2015 Rugby World Cups and 88 of 97 Test matches.
Their dominance was so ridiculous that they set records for the three longest winning streaks of all time. In 2015-16 they won a record 18 Test in a row after winning 17 in a row between 2013 and 2014 and 16 on the trot from 2011 and 2012. At home, the All Blacks were 45-0.
A Lions tour only happens every 12 years. Against England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales, the countries that make up the Lions, the All Blacks were 26-1 from 2009 to 2016. Against South Africa, their record was 13-2.
Tony Woodcock, Owen Franks, Jerome Kaino, Sam Whitelock, Brad Thorn, Brodie Retallick, Kieran Read, Richie McCaw, Aaron Smith, Ma’a Nonu, Conard Smith, Julian Savea and Ben Smith are all players worthy of consideration for inclusion in the World Rugby Hall of Fame.
The only record the 2009-2016 All Blacks didn’t achieve was the record for the longest unbeaten run among Tier 1 Nations. After winning 16 in a row from 2011 to 2012 the All Blacks were held to an 18-18 draw by Australia in Brisbane. They won six consecutive Tests thereafter, before defeat to England at Twickenham.
From the start of the 1987 Rugby World Cup until 1990 the All Blacks went 23 Tests without defeat. The only blot on their copybook was a 19-19 draw against Australia at Ballymore, Brisbane in 1988 (the 11th Test in their run). The All Blacks didn’t defend the World Cup in 1991.
Prior to the World Cup, it was hard to rival the sustained success of the All Blacks from 1962 to 1969. They only lost two out of 35 Test matches and were unblemished from the fourth Test against the Springboks in 1965 until 1969 winning 17 in a row.
When midweek games counted for something and were tough to win the All Blacks had 59 wins, two defeats and a draw in this period.
From the 1963-64 tour John Graham, Brian Lochore, Wilson Whineray, and Colin Meads were later knighted for their immense service to rugby and the community. Nobody would have complained if Ken Gray, Ian Kirkpatrick, and Waka Nathan received the same accolade.
The 1997 and 1998 Springboks matched the All Blacks streak of 17 consecutive victories, but at the 1999 World Cup were third.
The 1995 World Cup triumph was transformative, but the glorious Kitch Christie era was short-lived ending with 14 successive wins.
Pre-World Cup there are two periods of South African rugby that merit consideration as a ‘dynasty.’
The 1937 Springboks won 27 out of 29 matches on their New Zealand and Australian tour. They remain the only South African side to win a Test series in New Zealand winning the deciding Test at Eden Park 17-3, which was five tries and a conversion to nil.
Responses to their brilliance were unequivocal. WR King wrote in the Standard that “the South African forwards were simply magnificent, and the backs played with machine-line accuracy in every phase of the game.”
New Zealand Truth recorded that “on the day they would have beaten any other team in the world,” while Arthur Carman said that they won “not with mere power, but by their superior brainpower.”
To legendary first-five Bert Cooke, they were “no doubt about it, a great team.”
In 1938 the Springboks carried on the momentum when they beat the British and Irish Lions in a three-match series only dropping the last rubber after winning the first two Tests resoundingly by a combined margin of 45-15. Dannie Craven, Boy Louw, and Philip Nel were just some of the legends of this era.
The Springboks of 1949 to 1954 were arguably more formidable. They only lost a solitary Test in half a dozen years and swept the All Blacks 4-0 in 1949. Goal-kicking prop Okey Geffin famously scored 32 of the 47 points in the series. The 1951-52 tour of the UK and France was completed with a 30-1 record and a Grand Slam. The 44-0 thrashing of Scotland was rated by doyen commentator Bill McLaren as one of the greatest performances he ever witnessed.
P.S. Tier II nation Lithuania won 18 Test matches in a row between 2006 and 2010. Lithuania’s record was passed by Cyprus who won 24 Test matches in a row between 2008 and 2014, eventually stopped by Latvia. England holds the world record for the most consecutive wins in international rugby (male or female) with the Red Roses women achieving 30 consecutive wins between 2019 and 2022. They failed, however, to win the 2021 Rugby World Cup Final played on November 12, 2022, against the Black Ferns. From 2002 to 2009 the Black Ferns won 24 consecutive Tests by more than a converted try. That includes the 2002 and 2006 World Cup titles.
Comments on RugbyPass
“While Sotutu should start at No.8 for the All Blacks against England, but it’s only in that arena that he can prove just how good he really is.” And that my friends is where simply hasnt shone despite multiple opportunities. Even in this performance you can see what did him in in the test arena..he almost always still runs at the opposition almost ramrod upright making him easier to stop than it should be.
1 Go to commentsShould have been 0-0 and a message from SR CEO to both teams - “don’t worry about turning up next year”.
3 Go to commentsGreat work Owen Franks. A great of this team, scoring his first try for the Crusaders since 2010.He was beaming, justifiably. A fine win, he and the rest did the job up front.
1 Go to commentsDanny Care. Lang in die tand.
1 Go to commentsBig empty stadium does nothing for atmosphere but munster are playing well with solid performance
1 Go to commentsYes, Fiji can win the World Cup! With that belief plus their christian faith🙏 and hard work it is achievable. Great article. Ian Duncan Fiji resident 1981-84
2 Go to commentsInteresting comments about Touch. England’s hosting the Touch World Cup this year and the numbers have exploded since their last World Cup in 2019, something like 70% more teams and 40 nations taking part. And England Touch have made a big thing about how many universities are in their BUCS University Touch Championship as well as Sport England membership. Can only see this growing even more domestically as more people become aware of it
10 Go to comments“Cortez Ratima is light years ahead of anyone on current form, while TJ Perenara has also skyrocketed into contention following the unfortunate injury to the talented Cam Roigard.” At last some sanity. Hitherto so many pundits have been wittering on about Finlay Christie to the point one wondered if they were observing a FC in a parallel universe where the FC they saw wasnt just the mediocre Shayne Philpott project of Fosters hapless AB reign in the real world. Ratima, Perenara and Fakatava are the ONLY logical 9s for Razor now Roigard is crocked.
3 Go to commentsThis game was just as painful as the Hurricanes game. It was real fork-in-the-eye stuff.
3 Go to commentsNow if they could just fire the Crusaders ground PA guy who likes to play his dance music and just loves the sound of his own voice the entire game, even when play is going on. And I thought their brass band thing of a few years ago was bad.
5 Go to commentsUnfortunately when you lose by far the two form players this season in Roigard and Aumua, you're left replacing two game changing Tanks with a couple of pea-shooters. Which is also about the speed of TJs pass.
4 Go to commentsBit rich coming from the guy with zero loyalty to anyone or any team, including happily taking a players place in a league world cup squad because well, SBW wanted to play in it and thus an already named player got told he was no longer going. And airing stuff like this, which may or may not be true, doesn't exactly say you're a stand up guy either SBW. Just looking to keep his name in lights as usual.
38 Go to commentsTamati Tua. …the Taniwha NPC midfielder. Ollie Sapsford, Hawkes Bay NPC midfielder…doing well
4 Go to commentsFiji deserve to be in the rugby championship, fans love seeing the Fijian national team play, the Fijian Drua is a wonderful idea but the players can still be stolen to play for NZ and AUS…
2 Go to commentsThe first concern for this afternoon are wheather forecast…
1 Go to commentsWhy cant I watch Rugby games please?
1 Go to commentsBeautiful shot from Finau, end of story. Gutted for Shaun Stevenson though.
4 Go to commentsThe Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to commentsWasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
4 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
4 Go to comments