Savea calls on All Blacks to have ‘hard look at ourselves’ after Springboks demolition

Backrower Ardie Savea has given a blunt assessment of the All Blacks’ staggering loss to the Springboks at Twickenham on Friday night, saying the team must have a “hard look at ourselves.”

It was a result that nobody in the rugby world saw coming. Fans were stunned, except for those who call South Africa home – they celebrated in the streets of Twickenham late into the night.

With the Rugby World Cup just a couple of weeks away, the Springboks made a statement with an emphatic 35-7 win in London.

The Springboks took control of the possession and territory battles during the opening exchanges, and never looked in danger of being bested by their fierce rivals.

First-half tries to captain Siya Kolisi and wing Kurt-Lee Arendse saw the Boks take a commanding 14-nil lead into the break. The All Blacks were made to pay for their poor discipline and costly mistakes.

Scott Barrett and captain Sam Cane were both sent to the sin bin during the opening quarter of the Test, and Barrett received another yellow just before half-time.

As we all know, two yellows make a red. The All Blacks were made to play the rest of the Test with a maximum of 14 players as Barrett became the first All Black to be sent off twice (Perth, 2019).

New Zealand never stood a chance. The Springboks were even better after the break.

This Test will go down in history for all the wrong reasons for the All Blacks. In the illustrious history of one of the winningest teams in sports, it was their worst defeat ever.

“We’ve been doing our set piece our discipline has been awesome all season, just this game we let it slip,” Ardie Savea said after the Test.

“We’ll really have a hard look at ourselves because that’s not All Blacks standard, that’s not what the legacy demands of us.

“The Springboks were awesome. They played well, they came out firing, they just took away our game.”

Ardie Savea and veteran Dane Coles spoke with reporters about 45 minutes after the full-time siren sounded. Both players were visibly battered and bruised.

They’d lost the battle, but there is a war to be won in the coming months. The Rugby World Cup is just around the corner.

“For us going into a World Cup, it’s a very clear reminder of set-piece; the importance of getting your scrum and lineout right and maintaining discipline,” Coach Ian Foster told reporters.

“I thought in the first 20 minutes, I thought our defence was actually outstanding and we were hanging in there but we kept giving them another shot at us.

“We were trying too hard and we gave them a really good opportunity, we couldn’t actually get away from that. Great performance by them and one that we’ll take a lot of lessons from.”