Showing posts with label Springboks. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Springboks. Show all posts
Wednesday, 26 August 2026
Saturday, 22 August 2026
ALL BLACKS BLOW SPRINGBOKS AWAY AT ELLIS PARK WITH FIERY SECOND-HALF BLITZ
 |
| All Blacks lock Fabian Holland charges down Springbok scrumhalf Grant Williams' kick. Image: Backpagepix |
The All Blacks produced a fantastic second-half performance to smash the Springboks 33-16 in the first Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry Test at Ellis Park in Johannesburg on Saturday.
The All Blacks found themselves on the ropes towards the end of the first half, with their scrum under pressure and the penalties piling up. However, after going into half-time 13–12 in arrears, they outplayed the Boks to take first blood in the four-match series.
Cheslin Kolbe, who was given the kicking duties on the night, gave the Springboks the lead in the fifth minute from a penalty.
The Springboks’ rush defence put the All Blacks under massive pressure early, but the visitors managed to get into the Springboks’ 22 after some ill-discipline from the South Africans.
The home side conceded a plethora of penalties and ended up with an All Blacks lineout on their own 22. Wing Will Jordan went over from close range to give the Kiwis the lead.
However, the Springboks hit back straight away when replacement back André Esterhuizen thundered his way over the line shortly after replacing wing Kurt-Lee Arendse.
Josh Moorby scored the All Blacks’ second try, before Kolbe gave the Boks back the lead.
The South Africans camped out in the All Blacks’ 22 towards the end of the half, but the visitors survived to go into the break unscathed.
Kolbe kicked another penalty to stretch the Springboks’ lead to four points. But, while the Boks had scrum dominance at the start of the second half, they couldn’t convert their dominance.
The All Blacks then started to get parity in the scrum after the Boks replaced Ox Nché. The All Blacks then scored three second-half tries to blow the Boks away, who ended the game with 13 players on the field.
Fabian Holland, Luke Jacobson and Jordan all went over in the second half to kill off the Boks, who now have their work cut out for them to get back in the series next week in Cape Town.
Point-scorers:
Springboks — Tries: André Esterhuizen. Conversions: Cheslin Kolbe. Penalties: Kolbe (2).
All Blacks — Tries: Will Jordan (2), Josh Moorby, Fabian Holland, Luke Jacobson. Conversions: Ruben Love (4).
- IOL
Wednesday, 19 August 2026
SPRINGBOKS V ALL BLACKS: LAST FIVE TESTS
 |
| WELLINGTON, NEW ZEALAND - SEPTEMBER 13: Damian Willemse of South Africa celebrates after scoring a try during The Rugby Championship match between New Zealand All Blacks and South Africa Springboks at Sky Stadium on September 13, 2025 in Wellington, New Zealand. (Photo by Hagen Hopkins/Getty Images) |
The Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry series shifts into top gear this weekend, with the Springboks hosting the All Blacks at Ellis Park, Johannesburg, in the first of four Tests.
New Zealand have concluded their run-outs against three of the four South African franchises, beating the Stormers, Sharks, and the Bulls over the last two weeks, while the Lions will get their chance against the men in black at the same iconic venue on August 25.
While this marks New Zealand’s first tour of South Africa in 30 years, this fiercest of sporting rivalries is anything but new.
South African toured New Zealand for the first time in 1921, and in the 110 Tests played between them, the All Blacks have won 63, while the Springboks have beaten them 43 times. Four Tests have ended in a draw.
The two iconic sides have won seven of the 10 world cups since the tournament began in 1987, with South Africa lifting the Web Ellis a record four times, while New Zealand have claimed the global top-podium spot on three occasions. Two of those finals have been played between the two teams, with South Africa winning both.
While the All Blacks hold an overall 57 percent success rate over the Springboks, there has been a major shift in the Rassie Erasmus era, with the Boks winning seven of their 11 Tests since the 2019 world cup in Japan.
With so much history between these age-old rivals and more history possibly to be made during this tour, we look at the five most recent results between South Africa and New Zealand.
September 13, 2025: All Blacks 10 Springboks 43, Wellington
South Africa ran in six tries – five of them in the second half – to dismantle the hosts in a shocking one-sided affair at Sky Stadium.
While the Boks dominated territory in the opening 40, they only had a Cheslin Kolbe intercept try to show for it and went into the break trailing 10-7, but they were ruthless after switching sides and kept the All Blacks scoreless in the second half, while they ran in five more tries.
The All Blacks assault in Wellington marked their biggest-ever victory against their rivals and the biggest defeat for the All Blacks on home soil. The result also saw the Boks retain the Freedom Cup while moving back to the top of the World Rugby rankings.
What made the performance even more impressive was how the Boks regrouped after their Eden Park defeat the previous week and the wholesale changes that were made to the squad. Youngsters were given the license to thrill. Add in there the injuries the visitors sustained in the first half in Wellington and how they emptied the bench even before the end of the third quarter, and the result becomes even more remarkable.
It was also the game that should have convinced the rugby world about the Boks’ attacking venom.
September 6, 2025: All Blacks 24- 17 Springboks, Auckland
Going into the clash, the Boks had been winless at Eden Park since 1937, and it remained that way, while New Zealand extended their long-standing record at the venue.
The All Blacks had been unbeaten in 50 Tests (including two draws) at their Eden Park bastion prior to this contest and added one more win to that streak, while the result snapped the Boks’ four-match winning run against them.
Ardie Savea produced a moment worthy of the occasion in his 100th Test for the All Blacks when he won a turnover with one minute to time to negate the spirited Springbok second-half fightback which saw the traveling team come back from 17-3 down at half time.
The result piled the pressure on the Springboks’ Rugby Championship title defence after three rounds.
September 7, 2024: Springboks 18 – 12 All Blacks, Cape Town
The result was a massive one for South Africa for a number of reasons – it marked the first time since 1949 that they beat New Zealand four times on the bounce and their first time winning the Freedom Cup since 2009, while it also all but secured them the Rugby Championship title for the first time since 2019, when the Boks became the first country to win the Sanzaar-governed competition and the world cup in the same year.
The Springboks trailed 3-9 at half-time at Cape Town Stadium and scored the only two tries of the match to claim an 18-12 victory in an absolute thriller of a clash to remain unbeaten in the Rugby Championship after four rounds.
South Africa led by a single point in the 70th minute, but Damian McKenzie flopped a straightforward penalty kick, allowing the Boks to exit after the All Black hooked his kick.
August 31, 2024: Springboks 31 – 27 All Blacks, Johannesburg
Drama lacked not in this blockbuster.
From the airplane flyover during the haka to the fantastic smash-and-grab by the Boks, this match had it all.
South Africa simply had no business winning this game.
The All Blacks had the upper hand in the most of the stats charts and dominated territory and possession, but they conceded more breakdown penalties against a Springbok team that just refused to go down.
And that was the difference, the home side’s relentless determination to keep up the fight.
New Zealand led by 27 points to 17 with just 11 minutes remaining before South Africa orchestrated a fantastic late surge in Round Three of the Rugby Championship.
It was a battle for the books, and while the All Blacks fell victim to some of their errors, the Boks rose above theirs in the Ellis Park epic and showed exactly why, with them, it’s never over till it’s over.
Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu contributed 16 points in the form of penalties and conversions, while the Bomb Squad injected some potency with Kwagga Smith scoring after a lineout maul was stopped metres from the line before Grant Williams burst over after another maul was stopped in its tracks.
With the win, the Boks tightened their grip on the Rugby Championship.
October 28, 2023: Springboks 12 – 11 All Blacks, Saint-Denis (France World Cup)
Not much needs to be said about why this match was a historic one.
While the Springboks gilded the pages of their stacked history books with a record fourth world cup title, All Blacks skipper Sam Cane became the first player to be red-carded in a world cup final.
But that was perhaps not as decisive as one would expect as the Boks also lost two players to yellow cards.
The All Blacks scored the only try of the match in the 58th minute courtesy of Beauden Barrett, which was the first time in their four finals that the Boks had conceded a try. That alone might have suggested that the night wouldn’t end favourably for the South Africans, but this is a team that knows nothing of a white flag and in no other contest did they make it clearer than on that icy night in Saint-Denis.
Handré Pollard scored all his team’s points with four first-half penalties while Pieter-Steph du Toit single-handedly put together the study guide on colossal defence in a performance that epitomised “big match temperament”.
No words can do the kind of determination and character that the Boks embodied on that night justice.
- Wynona Louw
Friday, 14 August 2026
Sunday, 9 August 2026
Thursday, 23 July 2026
Sunday, 5 July 2026
Sunday, 30 November 2025
Sunday, 9 November 2025
Thursday, 6 November 2025
BREAKING: SPRINGBOKS NAME POWERFUL TEAM FOR FRANCE BATTLE
Damian Willemse returns from injury to start at fullback in a strong Springbok team that’s set to celebrate Siya Kolisi’s 100th Test cap.
 |
| The Springboks are braced for battle against France on Saturday. Image: SA Rugby |
Siya Kolisi will become the ninth Springbok centurion when he leads South Africa out against France at the Stade de France in Paris on Saturday.
Rassie Erasmus – who will guide the side in his 50th Test as head coach – has made six personnel changes to the side that defeated Japan last week.
This massive feat for Kolisi and Erasmus adds to a string of remarkable achievements, which include winning back-to-back Rugby World Cups and Rugby Championship titles, as well as the British & Irish Lions series.
Erasmus has selected Boan Venter to replace the injured Ox Nche at loosehead prop, while Thomas du Toit (tighthead prop), Eben Etzebeth (lock), Pieter-Steph du Toit (flanker) and Damian Willemse (utility back) all return to the starting line-up.
The only change amongst the replacements sees RG Snyman (lock) move from the starting team to the bench in place of Kwagga Smith (loose forward), who is carrying a niggle.
This will see Venter, Malcolm Marx (hooker), and Thomas du Toit pack down in the front row, while Etzebeth will join forces with Lood de Jager in the engine room.
Erasmus made only two changes to the backline. Willemse starts at fullback in place of Cheslin Kolbe, who moves to his regular position at wing with Kurt-Lee Arendse, while the experienced centre pairing of Damian de Allende and Jesse Kriel will man the midfield, and halfbacks Cobus Reinach and Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu are set to dictate play at halfback.
The Bulls trio of Johan Grobbelaar, Gerhard Steenekamp, and Wilco Louw will again serve as the back-up front row, along with locks Snyman, Ruan Nortje, and hybrid player Andre Esterhuizen. The two backline players on the bench are Grant Williams and Manie Libbok.
Eleven players in the team participated in the Springboks’ narrow RWC quarter-final victory over Les Bleus at the same venue two years ago – Etzebeth, Kolisi, Pieter-Steph du Toit, Snyman, Reinach, Arendse, Kolbe, Kriel, De Allende, Willemse, and Libbok.
SPRINGBOK TEAM TO FACE FRANCE IN PARIS:
15 Damian Willemse (DHL Stormers) – 45 caps, 66 pts (6t, 9c, 4p, 2 dg)
14 Cheslin Kolbe (Tokyo Sungoliath) – 47 caps, 126 pts (21t, 3c, 5p)
13 Jesse Kriel (Canon Eagles) – 85 caps, 100 pts (20t)
12 Damian de Allende (Wild Knights) – 94 caps, 55 pts (11t)
11 Kurt-Lee Arendse (Vodacom Bulls) – 28 caps, 115 pts (23t)
10 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu (DHL Stormers) – 16 caps, 120 pts (5t, 31c, 11p)
9 Cobus Reinach (DHL Stormers) – 47 caps, 85 pts (17t)
8 Jasper Wiese (Urayasu D-Rocks) – 40 caps, 10 pts (2t)
7 Pieter-Steph du Toit (Toyota Verblitz) – 93 caps, 70 pts (14t)
6 Siya Kolisi (captain, Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 99 caps, 70 pts (14t)
5 Lood de Jager (Wild Knights) – 72 caps, 25 pts (5t)
4 Eben Etzebeth (Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 138 caps, 35 pts (7t)
3 Thomas du Toit (Bath) – 30 caps, 5 pts (1t)
2 Malcolm Marx (Kubota Spears) – 85 caps, 135 pts (27t)
1 Boan Venter (Edinburgh) – 5 caps, 5 pts (1t)
Replacements:
16 Johan Grobbelaar (Vodacom Bulls) – 4 caps, 0 pts
17 Gerhard Steenekamp (Vodacom Bulls) – 12 caps, 5 pts (1t)
18 Wilco Louw (Vodacom Bulls) – 25 caps, 5 pts (1t)
19 RG Snyman (Leinster) – 47 caps, 15 points (3t)
20 Ruan Nortje (Vodacom Bulls) – 14 caps, 0 pts
21 Andre Esterhuizen (Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 25 caps, 15 pts (3t)
22 Grant Williams (Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 25 caps, 25 pts (5t)
23 Manie Libbok (Kintetsu Liners) – 25 caps, 141 pts (2t, 46c, 13p)
STATS AND FACTS:
Springbok record against France:
Played 46; Won 28; Lost 12; Drawn 6. Points for: 994, Points against: 720. Tries scored 111, Tries conceded 64. Highest score 52-10; Biggest win 42 points. Win % 61%.
- Craig Lewis
Wednesday, 8 October 2025
Sunday, 5 October 2025
Saturday, 27 September 2025
Wednesday, 17 September 2025
Saturday, 13 September 2025
IMPERIOUS SOUTH AFRICA INFLICT HEAVIEST EVER TEST DEFEAT ON ALL BLACKS
Springboks smash New Zealand in Wellington as Argentina beat Australia
 |
| Siya Kolisi of South Africa celebrates with the Freedom Cup after winning The Rugby Championship match between New Zealand All Blacks and South Africa. Photograph: Hagen Hopkins/Getty |
Rugby Championship: New Zealand 10 South Africa 43
South Africa shrugged off a litany of injuries to humiliate New Zealand 43-10 in a Rugby Championship stunner in Wellington on Saturday as the hosts crashed to their worst-ever test defeat.
With their backline in tatters and trailing 10-0 after an early try to debutant Leroy Carter, the Springboks scored 36 unanswered points in an extraordinary onslaught a week after falling 24-17 to the hosts at Eden Park.
Cheslin Kolbe lit the spark with a try in each half, while Damian Willemse, Kwagga Smith, RG Snyman and Andre Esterhuizen also crossed for the Springboks after the break.
South Africa are making a habit of humbling the New Zealanders, having inflicted their previous worst defeat – a 35-7 thrashing at Twickenham in the lead-up to the 2023 Rugby World Cup.
It was a win made all the sweeter by the challenges thrown at the visitors, who lost lock Lood de Jager, outhalf Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu and fullback Aphelele Fassi in the first half to injuries.
Scrumhalf Cobus Reinach also spent time off the ground from a head-knock but returned after passing a head-injury assessment.
 |
| South Africa's Cheslin Kolbe dives in to score a try. Photograph: Grant Down/AFP via Getty |
South Africa captain Siya Kolisi, a colossal presence throughout the night, said the performance had been brewing after a week of introspection following Eden Park.
“We played fearless, we said we’re not going to hold back. We know what we need to do and we believe in ourselves. That’s the most important thing out there,” he said.
“All we wanted was just a win. And we’re just happy that we got there and ... are able to fight for the Rugby Championship. So it’s open now and that’s all that matters to us.”
South Africa’s bonus-point win lifted them to second on the table, one point behind Australia, who fell 28-26 to Argentina in Sydney earlier in the day.
The third-placed All Blacks are level with defending champions South Africa on 10 points, one ahead of the Pumas after four rounds of the tightest Rugby Championship.
All four nations have two wins and two defeats, and all to play for.
South Africa next face Argentina in back-to-back tests while Australia take on New Zealand in two tests doubling as their annual Bledisloe Cup series.
Shell-shocked All Blacks coach Scott Robertson said there were no excuses for their dramatic fade-out.
“They just got momentum, won the air, won a lot of set piece ... They were just good tonight,” he said of South Africa.
“We thought we had a really good week but obviously it wasn’t deep enough preparation.”
Early on at Wellington Regional Stadium, there was little sign of the rout in store as the Springboks reeled from injuries and trailed by 10 points following winger Carter’s try and an early penalty.
It took Kolbe to keep them in the hunt as he intercepted centre Billy Proctor’s pass and bolted 70 metres to the line.
The All Blacks led 10-7 at the break but the Springboks’ forwards ramped up the set-piece pressure, winning a decisive scrum penalty three minutes from the restart.
Kolisi made a midfield break and replacement centre Esterhuizen flung the ball wide to Kolbe who danced over at the right corner.
Three minutes later, the livewire winger was wincing in the hands of trainers after a no-arms tackle by lock Tupou Vaa’i.
Manie Libbok knocked over the resulting penalty to stretch the Springboks’ lead to 17-10.
From there, the All Blacks struggled to maintain possession or withstand the waves of Springboks attackers.
Willemse dotted down near the hour-mark, beating three defenders, before Smith crossed in the 69th minute.
Snyman, earlier denied a try due to a knock-on, then barged over in the 73rd minute, with Esterhuizen completing the demolition with his team’s sixth try six minutes later to leave the crowd’s black-clad fans stunned.
With New Zealand losing their first-ever match in Argentina against the Pumas last month, Robertson and his staff face a fortnight of queries before meeting the Wallabies at Eden Park.
“We’ve got to be really, extremely honest with each other,” he said.
- The Irish Times
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)