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Parallels between All Blacks' 100th test with Springboks and England loss
The 100th game between the All Blacks and Springboks is a fixture that’s been on the minds of many since the test calendar kicked off earlier this year and while the game has been relocated from Dunedin to Townsville, there’s still an exceptionally mystic nature to the historic match.
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New Zealand and South Africa first faced off in Dunedin in 1921, with the All Blacks managing a 13-5 victory over the men from the Republic. Now, 100 years later, the typically annual clashes are anticipated as some of the best and most fierce on the calendar.
While the All Blacks’ will enter Saturday’s match as the form side, having gone undefeated throughout 2021, head coach Ian Foster has suggested that the form book can sometimes be tossed out the window in such high-stakes matches.
In 2011, New Zealand comfortably dealt to France during the pool stages of the World Cup, scoring a comfortable 37-17 win, before Les Bleus bounced back in the grand final and came within a whisker of upsetting the All Blacks at their Eden Park fortress, losing the match by a solitary point.
Eight years later, the All Blacks entered the 2019 World Cup as clear favourites and disposed of the Springboks during the pool stages before falling at the semi-finals to a somewhat less-fancied England team. England were then put to the sword by South Africa a week later in the final.
The world's top two sides go head to head in Townsville on Saturday night… They don't get bigger than this. #AllBlacks #Springboks #NZLvRSA pic.twitter.com/EmJ7g8ar5o
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) September 23, 2021
England and NZ had last faced off at Twickenham in 2018, with the visitors scoring a narrow 16-15 win in controversial circumstances. The English players – as well as their coach, Eddie Jones – evidently harboured a small grudge against their Kiwi opposition and, come the World Cup, had prepared the perfect gameplan to get revenge against their opposition.
Emotionally, the English were perhaps also targeting the game, due to the recent history between the two sides – but they weren’t able to bring that same intensity to the grand final.
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Foster, who was at that stage an assistant coach with the All Blacks, can appreciate the similarities between that semi-final clash and this weekend’s historic game between NZ and South Africa.
“I think there are some parallels,” Foster acknowledged after revealing his line-up for the game. “I think England had certainly targetted us for a long, long time and prepared for that and we’ve got no doubt that South Africa have had a plan for a long time for this game too.
“I think what we have learned is not to be surprised with the intensity of the opponent’s build-up and not to get lulled into a sense of their previous few weeks and the previous form [and] think that’s going to be an indicator of what’s going to happen on Saturday. That’s the biggest lesson out of England.”
TJ Perenara appears to have pipped Brad Weber as the first-choice back-up to Aaron Smith – and what a journey he's faced. #AllBlacks #NZLvRSA
✍️ Gregor Paulhttps://t.co/bolYLYZeGU
— RugbyPass+ (@RugbyPassPlus) September 23, 2021
The Springboks have faced some harsh criticism in the media in recent times, partially due to their forward-oriented style of play and, more recently, due to their back to back losses to a Wallabies side that had been whitewashed 3-0 by the All Blacks over their past three matches.
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Factor in that, as World Champions, they may feel the need to assert themselves as the apex predator in the food chain, given their last match with the All Blacks ended in defeat, and it’s impossible not see the Springboks entering the game with a fierce intensity that may well be a greater factor in the end result than either side’s current form.
For the All Blacks, the game represents a chance to prove that they deserve top spot on the World Rugby rankings, after jumping ahead of the Springboks following last weekend’s results. It’s also a huge match for coach Foster, given the lustre that adorns any match between New Zealand and South Africa, let alone the 100th.
“It’s the first time I’ve played South Africa so I think that’s pretty big,” said Foster. “I think when you’re coaching, every game’s the biggest game you’re ever going to have. That’s the beauty of coaching the All Blacks, the spotlight’s always on the team.
“We’ve had a lot of big games already but this is got a bit of a legacy moment about it, hasn’t it? A hundred tests and a hundred years and that’s certainly made it a bit special. And also the fact that we haven’t played South Africa for a couple of years and we’ve got a bunch of players that are really keen to measure themselves.”
“It’s a chance to actually measure ourselves against a team that has earned their reputation by delivering week-in, week-out, in some big games,” he later added. “And if you go back to our last few games in 18 and 19, there’ve been some really tight battles so we’re expecting that. But we’re not worried about that, we’re excited by that.”
The 100th clash between the All Blacks and Springboks kicks off at 5:05pm AEST on Saturday evening.
Catch up on the latest discussion with the Aotearoa Rugby Pod:
Comments on RugbyPass
It’s not up to Wales to support Georgian Rugby. That’s up to International Rugby and Georgia. I sympathise with Georgia’s decent attempt to create this fixture. But for Wales the proposed match up is just a potential stick to beat them with and a potential big psychological blow that young Welsh team doesn’t need. (I’m Irish BTW.)
2 Go to commentsCale certainly looks great in space, but as you say, he has struggled in contact. At 23 years old, turning 24 this year, he should be close to full physical maturity and yet there exists a considerable gap in the power and physicality required for international rugby. Weight doesn’t automatically equate to power and physicality either. Can he go from a player who’s being physically dominated in Super rugby to physically dominating in international rugby in 1 or 2 years? That’s a big ask but he may end up being a late bloomer.
28 Go to commentsIf rugby wants to remain interesting in the AI era then it will need to work on changing the rules. AI will reduce the tactical advantage of smart game plans, will neutralize primary attacking weapons, and will move rugby from a being a game of inches to a game of millimetres. It will be about sheer athleticism and technique,about avoiding mistakes, and about referees. Many fans will find that boring. The answer is to add creative degrees of freedom to the game. The 50-22 is an example. But we can have fun inventing others, like the right to add more players for X minutes per game, or the equivalent of the 2-point conversion in American football, the ability to call a 12-player scrum, etc. Not saying these are great ideas, but making the point that the more of these alternatives you allow, the less AI will be able to lock down high-probability strategies. This is not because AI does not have the compute power, but because it has more choices and has less data, or less-specific data. That will take time and debate, but big, positive and immediate impact could be in the area of ref/TMO assistance. The technology is easily good enough today to detect forward passes, not-straight lineouts, offside at breakdown/scrum/lineout, obstruction, early/late tackles, and a lot of other things. WR should be ultra aggressive in doing this, as it will really help in an area in which the game is really struggling. In the long run there needs to be substantial creativity applied to the rules. Without that AI (along with all of the pro innovations) will turn rugby into a bash fest.
24 Go to commentsSouth Africa rarely play Ireland and France on these tours. Mostly, England, Scotland and Wales. I wonder why
1 Go to commentsIt was a let’s-see-what-you're-made-of type of a game. The Bulls do look good when the opposition allows them to, but Munster shut them down, and they could not find a way through. Jake should be very worried about their chances in the competition.
2 Go to commentsHats off to Fabian for a very impressive journey to date. Is it as ‘uniquely unlikely’ as Rugby Pass suggests, given Anton Segner’s journey at the Blues?
1 Go to commentsSad that this was not confirmed. When administrators talk about expanding the game they evidently don’t include pathways to the top tier of rugby for teams outside of the old boys club. Rugby deserves better, and certainly Georgia does.
2 Go to commentsLions might take him on if they move on Van Rooyen but I doubt he will want to go back, might consider it a step backwards for himself. Sharks would take him on but if Plumtree goes on to win the challenge cup they will keep him on. Also sharks showing some promising signs recently. Stormers and Bulls are stable and Springboks are already filled up. Quality coach though, interesting to see where he ends up
1 Go to commentsAnd the person responsible for creating a culture of accountability is?
3 Go to commentsMore useless words from Ben Smith -Please get another team to write about. SA really dont need your input, it suck anyway.
264 Go to commentsThis disgraceful episode must result in management and coach team sackings. A new manager with worse results than previous and the coaching staff need to coached. Awful massacre led by donkeys.
1 Go to commentsInteresting article with one glaring mistake. This sentence: “And between the top four nations right now, Ireland, France, South Africa, and New Zealand…” should read: And between the top four nations right now, South Africa, Ireland, New Zealand and France…”. Get it right wistful thinkers, its not that hard.
24 Go to commentsHow did Penny get the gig anyway?
3 Go to commentsNice write up Nick and I would have agreed a week ago. However as you would know Cale & co got absolutely monstered by the Blues back row of Sotutu, Ioane and Papaliti and not all of these 3 are guaranteed a start in the Black jumper. He may need to put some kgs before stepping up, Spring tour? After the week end Joe will be a bit more restless. Will need to pick a mobile tough pack for Wales and hope England does the right thing and bashes the ABs. I like your last paragraph but I would bring Swinton, Hannigan into the 6 role and Bobby V to 8
28 Go to commentsThe Crusaders can still get in to the Play Off’s. The imminent return of outstanding captain Scott Barrett and his All Black team mate Codie Taylor will be a big boost.There are others like Tamaiti Williams too. Two home games coming up. Fellow Crusader fans get there and support these guys. I will be.
2 Go to commentsCant get more Wellington than Proctor.
2 Go to commentsWhy not let the media decide. Like how they choose the head coach. Like most of us we entrust the rugby system to choose. A rugby team includes the coaches. It's collective.
14 Go to commentsHi NIck, I have been very impressed with him and he seems a smart player who can see opportunities which Bobby V _(who must be an international 6_) doesn’t see or have the speed to take advantage of. If he continues to improve and puts on 5kgs then he could be a great 8. He is a bit taller than Keiran Reid at 1.93m and 111 kgs, so his skill set fits his body size and who knows where it will lead. I hope the spate of Achilles tendon issues have been dealt with by the S&C people. It’s been a very long time since Mark Loane and Kefu stood out at 8. The question is will we be able to hold onto him, if he does make it he will be pretty hot property. I disagree with the idea of letting them go to the Northern Hemisphere and then bring them back.
28 Go to commentsBilly Fulton 🤣🤣🤣🤣 garrrmon not even close
14 Go to commentsDoes the AI take into account refs? hahaha Seriously why not have two on field refs to avoid bias?
24 Go to comments