In the long history of rugby union, one rivalry stands head and shoulders above the rest- South Africa vs New Zealand. The intensity of this rivalry was reaffirmed recently when the Springboks reclaimed the Freedom Cup for the first time in 15 years, following an 18-12 defeat of the All Blacks at Cape Town Stadium. Both Rugby Championship matches in South Africa between the two teams were typical of clashes between rugby’s greatest rivals, as they were characterised by patriotism, passion and drama.
How and why did rugby matches between these two nations come to be defined as the ultimate clash in rugby? Find out below:
Origins
The high-profile nature of the clash between these two teams can be attributed to their status as two of the powerhouses of world rugby- both teams have the status of having a winning record against every other rugby-playing nation, and South Africa and New Zealand have won 4 and 3 World cup titles, respectively.
The All Blacks and the Springboks first played each other in 1921, when the New Zealanders beat the South Africans 13-5 in Dunedin. The Springboks then won the next test 9-5, and the last test was a 0-0 draw., which meant the first series between the 2 teams was drawn. This close result was a sign of what was to come between these 2 teams, as they continued to play out epic matches over the next 103 years on a regular basis, with fierce competition in every match, series and tournament when they clashed.
Political historical Context
All matches between the Springboks and All Blacks prior to 1992 were played against the undercurrent of racial discrimination and the Apartheid regime in South Africa, and this eventually impacted matches and tours. To appease the Apartheid government, the All blacks did not select non-white players to play the Springboks until Māori player Bryan Williams toured South Africa in 1970.
Real political turmoil flared again in 1976 when the All Backs toured South Africa despite international pressure to break off all sporting contact with South Africa. This tour led to 29 African countries boycotting the 1976 Montreal Olympics, simply because New Zealand participated in the Summer Games.
The zenith of political unrest occurred when the Springboks toured New Zealand in 1981, thereby breaking the 1977 Gleneagles Agreement, in which Commonwealth presidents and prime ministers agreed to discourage contact and competition between their sportsmen and sporting organisations, teams, or individuals from Apartheid South Africa.
The tour was beset by protestors who followed the Springboks around, clashed with police and disrupted matches, culminating in the infamous 3rd “Flour bomb” test, where a pilot flew over Eden Park during the match dropping flour bombs on the field, with All Black Gary Whetton hit at one stage by a flour bomb. New Zealand won the match (and series, 2-1) in controversial fashion as well, with a dubious penalty awarded in the last minute to give the All blacks a 25-22 win.
There was further controversy in 1986 when a “rebel” New Zealand team toured South Africa under the moniker “New Zealand Cavaliers”, with all but 2 of the 1986 All Blacks team playing in this unsanctioned team. The Springboks won this series 3-1.
Return to International Rugby
With Apartheid being dismantled, South Africa’s first test match back from isolation was against the All Blacks in 1992 at Ellis Park. The All Blacks led for most of the match, and won 27-24, with South Africa mounting a late comeback thanks to 2 tries from legendary Springbok centre Danie Gerber. While the Boks lost, this match firmly entrenched the rivalry between the two teams.
Classic Modern Matches
Tri-Nations, 1998, Kings Park Durban
Despite a poor Tri-Nations in which they had already lost 3 matches, the All Blacks led 23-5 in the last match against South Africa, with about 15 minutes to play. The match seemed done and dusted, but the Springboks launched an incredible comeback, scoring 3 tries and winning the match 23-24. They then beat Australia 29-15 in the last match to win their first Tri-Nations.
Tri-Nations, 2004, Ellis Park Johannesburg
After a record 8 losses in a row to the All Blacks, the Springboks turned things around with an empathic 40-26 victory at Ellis Park in the Tri-Nations. Marius Joubert became the second Springbok to score a hat-trick against the All Blacks to memorably help stop the recent one-sided nature of the contest between the two teams. The Springboks then beat the Wallabies 23-19 the following week in Durban to win the Tri-Nations for a second time.
Tri-Nations, 2008, Dunedin
In the 2008 Tri-Nations match in Dunedin, The Springboks were trailing the All Blacks 28-23 with only a few minutes left. To make matters worse, their captain Victor Matfield was in the sin bin. That’s when scrumhalf Ricky Januarie produced a bit of magic, breaking from a ruck near the halfway line, kicking ahead, and retrieving his kick to score a try. With Frans Steyn’s Conversion, South Africa won for the first time in New Zealand in 10 years.
Classic World Cup Clashes
Some of the greatest matches between these two rivals have occurred in Rugby World Cups. The most famous of these clashes is the 1995 Rugby World Cup Final, when South Africa beat the All Blacks 15-12 in extra time, uniting South Africa in one of the seminal moments of the country’s new democracy. It was such a special moment in history that it even inspired a book by John Carlin (Playing the Enemy: Nelson Mandela and the Game That Made a Nation) and a movie based on the book, Invictus, which was directed by Clint Eastwood and starred Morgan Freeman and Matt Damon.
The teams met again in the 1999 3rd-placed play-off, which the Springboks won 22-18, and then in the 2003 World Cup quarterfinal, when the All Blacks easily won 29-9. The next World Cup clash was the 2015 semifinal, where the All Blacks squeaked out a tight 20-18 win, en route to title glory.
In 2019, they met for the first time in a pool match, and while the All Blacks won the match 23-13, the Springboks ended up winning the cup. The tightest World Cup game between the two teams occurred in 2023 when the Boks won a nail-biting final 12-11.
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