The Springboks lived up to their world champion status with a compelling win over the All Blacks in Nelspruit, and in the Ellis Park rematch the challenge will be to keep a lid on their confidence, writes ZELIM NEL.
South Africa validated their credentials with a commanding victory at Mbombela Stadium and in so doing confirmed they are very much on track to defend their world title in France next year.
Malcolm Marx made a rare start in his 50th Test, forcing multiple turnovers and leading the hit in a powerful scrum to feed the Boks’ big appetite for field position.
Captain Siya Kolisi picked up where he’d left off against Wales at Cape Town Stadium, with important contributions to the attacking breakdown and in linking with the backs on attack.
The all-world centre combo of Damian de Allende and Lukhanyo Am continued to dominate the midfield with the former offering momentum on demand and the latter always in exactly the right place at the right time to convert loose ball into a try-scoring opportunity.
Jordan Hendrikse made genius the brave call to start him twice in the July series as he took over from a concussed Faf de Klerk in the first minute and led the Bok kicking attack like a seasoned veteran.
Eben Etzebeth and Lood de Jager bossed the lineout, double contesting the All Black throw.
Young flyer Kurt-Lee Arendse scored first and veteran fullback Willie le Roux came off the bench to dot down the final try, while Damian Willemse’s speed negated the tourists’ long-range kicking game.
Handre Pollard kicked his points, Jasper Wiese made himself felt in the collisions and Steven Kitshoff raised the level in the second half.
These were just the highlights in a full-squad performance that erased an uneasy feeling the Boks under Rassie Erasmus had perhaps played their best rugby at the 2019 Rugby World Cup and were destined to stagnate en route to a failed world title defence.
The Boks indulged in sanitised media-speak in the buildup to the Rugby Championship opener, but away from the cameras and behind closed doors they would have received a clear message from Rassie that this was a match that had to be won, and won convincingly.
A final score of 26-10 marks South Africa’s biggest margin of victory over the Kiwis in 74 years dating back to when 29-year-old Western Province loosehead prop Phil Mostert captained South Africa to a 17-0 win in Durban.
However, in the years that followed, the Springboks won just 34 of 93 Tests against their old rivals. The losses included the most emphatic defeats in team history when New Zealand demolished South Africa 57-15 and then 57-0 between 2016 and 2017.
The spectre of these humiliations continued to harass Bok supporters last week, despite the All Blacks arriving on the back of four losses in their past five Tests, including a first home reverse against Ireland and a home series defeat for the first time in 28 years.
Part of the successful salvage operation undertaken by Rassie since 2018 included a 2-1-3 record against New Zealand – a 16-16 draw in Wellington balanced by splitting two Tests at home and two in Australasia, but the Kiwis edged it on the basis of a 23-13 victory at the Japan showpiece in 2019.
The emphatic win in Nelspruit has now tipped these scales in South Africa’s favour and a pending rematch at Ellis Park, where the hosts have won nine of the 14 Tests against the All Blacks, promises to emboss, underline, embolden and italicise the Boks’ world champion status.
And therein lies this week’s trial.
Where the Nelspruit gauntlet ended the phase that dared the Boks to play to their station and standing, the Ellis Park Test begins a new chapter that will challenge South Africa to play with the virtue of confidence, while being careful to avoid the vice of pride, arrogance and impulsiveness.
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Photo: @Springboks/Twitter
