Twickenham Test a chance for All Blacks and Springboks to right recent wrongs
There are two opportunities for the All Blacks and Springboks to square off at next year’s Rugby World Cup in France.
Should one team top their pool and the other finish second – with Ireland and France making up the numbers – they will square off at the quarter-final stages of the tournament. If that outcome doesn’t eventuate, however, then the grand final will be the only chance the two rivals have for going hammer and tongs at the showpiece tournament.
France and Ireland sit at the pinnacle of the world game at present – that’s not up for debate. But is it South Africa or New Zealand who sits immediately behind them in the pecking order at present?
While the Springboks were able to take advantage of the favourable draw they were dealt at the 2019 Rugby World Cup and were ultimately crowned worthy winners, the All Blacks faltered at the semi-final stages of the competition.
The years since have not necessarily been kind to either of the two Southern Hemisphere superpowers.
The Springboks were entirely absent from the 2020 Test calendar, ceding one year of potentially crucial development in favour of protecting themselves from the possible effects of Covid. The All Blacks, on the other hand, undertook a six-match season that saw them drop matches to both the Wallabies and Pumas – the latter a first-ever defeat at the hands of the Argentinians.
When South Africa and New Zealand squared off on neutral ground a year later, few knew what to expect from the rival nations and there was a palpable tension heading into the first of their two matches in Australia.
The Springboks has just dropped back-to-matches to the Wallabies while the All Blacks had scored two comfortable wins over the Pumas – yet it was generally accepted that form would be thrown out the window for what would be the 100th match between the two sides.
A close match ensued – one which was only decided in the final minutes of the game when Jordie Barrett kicked a long-range penalty to wrestle the lead back for the men in black after they’d held it for much of the game. The closeness of the match aside, however, it was hardly a game that would have enticed neutrals to take note of the sport, with the Springboks resorting to a box-kick-heavy strategy that prevented any sort of thrills from really taking over.
That happened the following week, however, when South Africa opted to play with a bit more flair and one of the sporting highlights of the year unfurled, with the Springboks eventually claiming a hard-fought 31-29 victory.
The series ended 1-1, and it was a similar story in 2022 with the All Blacks travelling over the republic for a two-match series to kick off their defence of the Rugby Championship.
In the opening game of the competition, the home side was able to suffocate their opposition of any consistent possession and made the most of the visitor’s errors. Malcolm Marx put on a stupendous performance in his 50th match in Springboks colours, demolishing the All Blacks at the breakdown and ultimately helping his side to their second-biggest win over NZ, 26-10.
For the Test in Johanessburg the following week, coach Jacques Nienaber absurdly decided to drop Marx to the bench and despite quickly realising his mistake, fast-tracking the No 16 onto the field before the half-hour mark, the All Blacks had been able to build some ascendency on the field and raced out to a 15-point lead before the Springboks were even able to get themselves on the board. South Africa fought their way back into the match – even taking the lead at the 67-minute mark – but the visitors ultimately prevailed 35-23.
That win at Ellis Park has perhaps been the All Blacks’ best performance of the year – although that’s not necessarily anything to gush about. The New Zealanders have been going through a bit of a rough patch since their battles with the Boks late last year, dropping games to France, Ireland and Argentina and things likely won’t get considerably easier on their upcoming end-of-year tour.
The point stands, however, that both the All Blacks and Springboks appear to have saved their best performances for their annual grudge matches, and the addition of one extra match at Twickenham ahead of next year’s World Cup will give fans the chance to see which side is in better condition heading into the competition.
Just six times throughout history have the teams squared off on neutral ground, with four of those matches coming in the past eight years.
Four of the fixtures have also been World Cup clashes, with the Springboks triumphing in the dead-rubber bronze play-off and the All Blacks coming out on top in the other three battles – including most recently during the pool stages of the 2019 tournament. The final two bouts were of course played as part of the 2021 Rugby Championship, with the victories shared.
The most recent games could have fallen either way and while a more favourable bounce of the ball could have turned either result on its head, supporters of both nations will be quietly confident that their team can get the upper hand at the next encounter.
While neither coach will want to reveal their full hand of cards on August 25 next year, before the World Cup has kicked off, Ian Foster and Jacques Nienaber will see the Twickenham clash as an important step on the road to glory. Whether the two sides top their respective pools or finish in second place, the quarter-finals will be titanic encounters but some strong momentum could pave the way to victory.
South Africa, of course, won’t want to have to take on the host nations during the knockout stages if they can help it, but whether finishing second or first in their pool it’s not obvious who they’ll face in their first fixtures of the sudden death portion of the tournament. The same could be said for NZ – who will have to take on a side that has tasted victory over them in recent years, one way or another.
August’s match might not count for anything come the World Cup – much in the same way that the All Blacks’ victory in 2019 ultimately didn’t help their chances of taking the William Web Ellis Cup – but it will provide some crucial momentum heading into the tournament, and both sides will certainly be doing all they can to earn a victory. There’s no such things as friendlies in rugby union, and the All Blacks and Springboks will undoubtedly prove that true at Twickenham in 2023.
Tickets on sale from 10am, 27 October via Ticketmaster and the RFU. Secure your seats early and be part of this historic match from £55 for Adults and £28 for Under-16s (Booking Fees apply).
Hospitality packages are available to purchase from £299 per person via www.twickenhamstadium.com
Comments on RugbyPass
Totally deserved win for the Crusaders Far smarter than the Chiefs who seem to be avoiding the basics when it matters Hotham showed them what was missing and Hannah seems a real find - a tad light but that can be fixed over time
8 Go to commentsGreat insight into the performance culture with Sarries and I predict Christie will be a fixture in the Scotland team now for some time to come. However, he is slightly missing his own point around Scotland “being soft” when he cites physicality examples in defence of that slight. The issue is much closer to the example he referenced around feeling off before a game but being told “it doesn’t matter, you can still play well” by Farrell. Until Scotland can get their psyche in that square, they will carry on folding under extreme pressure…
1 Go to comments> We are having to adapt, evolve and innovate more than when we were in Super Rugby where there was only really one style that everybody had to play to gain the most success. Have = able to? Interesting what that one style might be? I thought SA sides still had bad tours now, or at least bad schedule, months away? Those extra few hours flights have to be a killer though, no surprise to see their sides doing so badly at the start of the season each year. I wouldn’t enjoy that unfairness as a supporter.
5 Go to commentsThe problem for NZ, and Aus, is they ripped up the SR model and lost a massive chunk of revenue that hasn’t been replaced. Don’t forget SA clubs went North because they were left with no choice, Argy unceremoniously binned and Japan cast adrift. Now SR wasn’t perfect, far from it, but they’ve jumped into something without an effective plan, so far, to replace what they’ve lost. The biggest revenue potential now lies in Japan but it won’t be easy or quick to unlock, they are incredibly insular in culture as a nation. In the meantime, there is a serious time bomb sitting under SH rugby and if it happens then the current financial challenges will look like a picnic. IF the Boks follow their provincial teams and head north then it’s revenue meltdown. Not guaranteed to happen but the status quo is a very odd hybrid, with the Boks pointing one way and the clubs pointing the other way. And for as long as that remains then the threat is real.
36 Go to commentsI think Etene has had some good tuition, likely while at the Warriors to be a professional that helped his rugby jump, but he was certainly thrown in the deep end way too early. Should have arguably 20 less SR caps, and therefor a way better record that he does at his age, but his development would have been fast tracked by the need to satiate his signing away from league. Again, credit to him and others that he has done it so well. Easy to fall over under that pressure in the big leagues like that but he kept at it when I myself wasn’t sure he was good enough.
1 Go to commentsAwesome story. I wonder what a bigger American (SA) scene might have mean for Brex.
1 Go to comments“Johnny McNicholl and the Crusaders” save a Penney. Who has been in camp this week and showed them how to play?
8 Go to commentsSo, reports of the Crusaders’ demise / terminal decline are perhaps just - slightly - premature/exaggerated…? 🤔 Will we see a deep-dive into that by the estimable Rugbypass scribes, and maybe one or two mea culpas? Thought not.
8 Go to comments1. The Chiefs are rudderless without DMac, which enhances his AB chances 2. Chiefs pack are powderpuffs. The hard men arent there anymore 3. They had their golden title chance last yr and wont threaten this yr. Gone in second round of playoffs.
8 Go to commentsHonestly, why did you have to publish such a foolish article the day they play us? 😂
36 Go to comments> They are not standalone entities. They are linked to an amateur association which holds the FFR licence that allows the professional side to compete in the league. That’s a great rule. This looks like the chicken or egg professional scenario. How long is it going to be before the club can break even (if that is even a thing in French rugby)? If the locals aren’t into well it would be good to se them drop to amateur level (is it that far?). Hope they can reset from this level and be more practical, there will be a time when they can rebuild (if France has there setup right).
1 Go to commentsWhat about changing the ball? To something heavier and more pointed that bounces unpredictably. Not this almost round football used these days.
35 Go to commentsThis is the problem with conservative mindsets and phycology, and homogenous sports, everybody wants to be the same, use the i-win template. Athlete wise everyone has to have muscles and work at the gym to make themselves more likely to hold on that one tackle. Do those players even wonder if they are now more likely to be tackled by that player as a result of there “work”? Really though, too many questions, Jake. Is it better Jake? Yes, because you still have that rugby of ole that you talk about. Is it at the highest International level anymore? No, but you go to your club or checkout your representative side and still engage with that ‘beautiful game’. Could you also have a bit of that at the top if coaches encouraged there team to play and incentivized players like Damian McKenzie and Ange Capuozzo? Of course we could. Sadly Rugby doesn’t, or didn’t, really know what direction to go when professionalism came. Things like the state of northern pitches didn’t help. Over the last two or three decades I feel like I’ve been fortunate to have all that Jake wants. There was International quality Super Rugby to adore, then the next level below I could watch club mates, pulling 9 to 5s, take on the countries best in representative rugby. Rugby played with flair and not too much riding on the consequences. It was beautiful. That largely still exists today, but with the world of rugby not quite getting things right, the picture is now being painted in NZ that that level of rugby is not required in the “pathway” to Super Rugby or All Black rugby. You might wonder if NZR is right and the pathway shouldn’t include the ‘amateur’, but let me tell you, even though the NPC might be made up of people still having to pull 9-5s, we know these people still have dreams to get out of that, and aren’t likely to give them. They will be lost. That will put a real strain on the concept of whether “visceral thrill, derring-do and joyful abandon” type rugby will remain under the professional level here in NZ. I think at some point that can be eroded as well. If only wanting the best athlete’s at the top level wasn’t enough to lose that, shutting off the next group, or level, or rugby players from easy access to express and showcase themselves certainly will. That all comes back around to the same question of professionalism in rugby and whether it got things right, and rugby is better now. Maybe the answer is turning into a “no”?
35 Go to commentsWow, didn’t realise there was such apathy to URC in SA, or by Champions Cup teams. Just read Nick’s article on Crusaders, are Sharks a similar circumstance? I think SA rugby has been far more balanced than NZs, no?
4 Go to commentsBut here in Australia we were told Penney was another gun kiwi coach, for the Tahs…….and yet again it turned out the kiwi coach was completely useless. Another con job on Australian rugby. As was Robbie Deans, as was Dave Rennie. Both coaches dumped from NZ and promoted to Australia as our saviour. And the Tahs lap them up knowing they are second rate and knowing that under pressure when their short comings are exposed in Australia as well, that they will fall in below the largest most powerful province and choose second rate Tah players to save their jobs. As they do and exactly as Joe Schmidt will do. Gauranteed. Schmidt was dumped by NZ too. That’s why he went overseas. That why kiwi coaches take jobs in Australia, to try and prove they are not as bad as NZ thought they were. Then when they get found out they try and ingratiate themselves to NZ again by dragging Australian teams down with ridiculous selections and game plans. NZ rugby’s biggest problem is that it can’t yet transition from MCaw Cheatism. They just don’t know how to try and win on your merits. It is still always a contest to see how much cheating you can get away with. Without a cheating genius like McCaw, they are struggling. This I think is why my wise old mate in NZ thinks Robertson will struggle. The Crusaders are the nursery of McCaw Cheatism. Sean Fitzpatrick was probably the father of it. Robertson doesn’t know anything else but other countries have worked it out.
36 Go to commentsIt could be coincidental or prescient that the All Blacks most dominant period under Steve Hansen was when the Crusaders had their least successful period under Todd Blackadder and then the positions reversed when Razor took over the Crusaders.
36 Go to commentsDefinitely sound read everybodyexpects immediate results these days, I don't think any team would travel well at all having lost three of the most important game changers in the game,compiled with the massive injury list they are now carrying, good to see a different more in depth perspective of a coaches history.
3 Go to commentsSinckler is a really big loss for English rugby.
2 Go to commentsThanks Nick The loss of players to OS, injury and retirement is certainly not helping the Crusaders. Ditto the coach. IMO Penny is there to hold the fort and cop the flak until new players and a new coach come through,…and that's understood and accepted by Penny and the Crusaders hierarchy. I think though that what is happening with the Crusaders is an indicator of what is happening with the other NZ SRP teams…..and the other SRP teams for that matter. Not enough money. The money has come via the SR competition and it’s not there anymore. It's in France, Japan and England. Unless or until something is done to make SR more SELLABLE to the NZ/Australia Rugby market AND the world rugby market the $s to keep both the very best players and the next rung down won't be there. They will play away from NZ more and more. I think though that NZ will continue to produce the players and the coaches of sufficient strength for NZ to have the capacity to stay at the top. Whether they do stay at the top as an international team will depend upon whether the money flowing to SRP is somehow restored, or NZ teams play in the Japan comp, or NZ opts to pick from anywhere. As a follower of many sports I’d have to say that the organisation and promotion of Super Rugby has been for the last 20 years closest to the worst I’ve ever seen. This hasn't necessarily been caused by NZ, but it’s happened. Perhaps it can be fixed, perhaps not. The Crusaders are I think a symptom of this, not the cause
36 Go to commentsNo way. If you are trying to picture New Zealand rugby with an All Blacks mindset, there have been two factors instrumental to the decline of NZ rugby to date. Those are the horror that the Blues have become and, probably more so, the fixture that the Crusaders became. I don’t think it was healthy to have one team so dominant for so long, both for lack of proper representation of players from outside that environment and on the over reliance on players from within it. If you are another international side, like Ireland for example, sure. You can copy paste something succinct from one level to the next and experience a huge increase in standards, but ultimately you will not be maximizing it, which is what you need to perform to the level the ABs do. Added to that is the apathy that develops in the whole game as a result of one sides dominance. NZ, Super, and Championship rugby should all experience a boom as a result of things balancing out. That said, there is a lot of bad news happening in NZ rugby recently, and I’m not sure the game can be handled well enough here to postpone the always-there feeling of inevitable decline of rugby.
36 Go to comments