All Blacks 10

Springboks 43

By Liam Napier in Wellington

The capital curse strikes again. This time with an embarrassing record loss to the Springboks.

This one will hurt for many years to come.

Scott Robertson’s All Blacks failed to scale two peaks in successive weeks as their patchy form trend reared its ugly head again with another defeat in Wellington – their fifth in their last 10 tests at Sky Stadium. It was the All Blacks’ biggest loss, topping the 35-7 defeat against South Africa at Twickenham before the 2023 World Cup.

Coming down from the emotive high of defending fortress Eden Park and celebrating Ardie Savea’s 100th test last week, the All Blacks’ search for consistency remains well beyond reach after the Springboks bounced back in emphatic fashion to secure a treasured win on New Zealand soil.

After a 1-1 tour to Argentina, the All Blacks have now repeated those results at home against the Springboks to leave major frustrations and serious questions about any form of genuine progress under Robertson.

The nature of this deflating defeat, the largest against the Springboks at home, eclipsing the 15 point loss to the Wallabies in 1964, sparks serious concerns and could leave deep scars.

The one-sided loss leaves the Rugby Championship title wide open – and means the All Blacks do not regain the Freedom Cup they lost for the first time in 14 years in South Africa last year.

The All Blacks led 10-7 at halftime only to capitulate and be held scoreless as the Boks ran in five second-half tries and 36 unanswered points.

The All Blacks’ scrum issues remained prevalent, their lineout went horribly wrong after Brodie McAlister’s introduction, their high ball work was sloppy and they were brutally exposed on defence to miss a staggering 46 tackles.

The ease with which the Springboks, who, to their credit, excelled by embracing much more ambition, broke the All Blacks open was alarming at times.

Attempting to chase the game, the All Blacks lost their heads. They kicked the ball dead and they couldn’t finish attacking chances with Will Jordan losing the ball over the line and botching a break midway through the second half by throwing a long pass at Leory Carter’s feet.

Some of the 34,068 crowd left early and as the South Africans celebrated their side’s triumph, those New Zealanders who remained were stunned by what they had witnessed.

Robertson made all the right noises about resetting, improving, this week, but the Boks, having made seven starting changes and drastically changing their conservative tactics, responded with vengeance.

No more were those changes evident than the Boks’ backline. Despite suffering a raft of injury exits the South Africans overcame that adversity to keep piling on the points.

The Springboks made sweeping changes by resting proven veterans Damian de Allende and Jesse Kriel to leave 173 combined test caps in their backline – fewer than Beauden Barrett (140 caps) and Jordie (74).

As expected, though, the Boks’ youthful brigade came to play from the outset. They turned down an early shot at goal, gave the ball air and width to regularly break the All Blacks open.

While the Boks’ attack posed many more problems than their predictable approach last week, their finishing initially let them down.

Jordie Barrett pulled off a try-saving tackle as he stripped Cheslin Kolbe over the line. Boks halfback Cobus Reinach twice knocked on from the base of the ruck to rob RG Snyman of the opening try.

The All Blacks lost Noah Hotham after he copped a knee to the head, injecting Finlay Christie after nine minutes.

South Africa, though, endured something of an injury crisis after losing three players – lock Lood de Jager, first five-eighth Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu and fullback Aphelele Fassi– to severely deplete their reserves.

Defensively the All Blacks were exposed on the edges at times, but their attack briefly clicked to set up their only try of the match.

Leroy Carter’s strike on debut came after multiple sweeping movements from the All Blacks that featured loose forwards roaming the edge, props dishing out the back door and perfectly executed passes under pressure. Tupou Vaa’i giving Carter the run speaks to the breadth of skill on display.

At that point, it seemed the All Blacks would cut loose only for Kolbe to snaffle Billy Proctor’s pass – with Simon Parker and Carter on his outside - to run 60 metres for a telling 14-point swing.

Momentum killed for the All Blacks.

And they could not get it back.

With their backs to the wall and the Boks steaming forward, the All Blacks had no form of composure, no way to turn the tide, in the second half.

The sight of Springboks captain Siya Kolisi hosting the Freedom Cup and savouring a victory lap of the All Blacks’ Wellington graveyard served as a poignant symbol of where Robertson’s team sits.

All Blacks 10 (Leroy Carter try, Damian McKenzie con, pen)

Springboks 43 (Cheslin Kolbe 2, Kwagga Smith, Damian Willemse, RG Snyman, Andre Esterhuizen tries; Manie Libbok 5 cons, pen)

HT: 10-7