The Springboks ended their Rugby World Cup preparations in style, smashing archrivals New Zealand in front of 80 827 fans at Twickenham on Saturday.
Scoring five tries to one, South Africa handed the All Blacks their heaviest defeat in their 120-year history by simply bulldozing the Kiwis in England.
With it being the two teams’ last warm-up game before the World Cup, SA will be happy with how they dominated every single department and most importantly the physically and intensity stakes, while the All Blacks will rue ill-discipline - which cost them a red card to Scott Barrett after two yellow cards and also the sin-binning of captain Sam Cane - as well as unforced handling errors.
A record victory at Twickenham 💚![CDATA[]]>💛#StrongerTogether #RSAvNZL #Springboks pic.twitter.com/UQuuu9RTqu
— Springboks (@Springboks) August 25, 2023
But the latter was brought on by intense Springbok pressure, with coach Jacques Nienaber’s men playing eight of the first 10 minutes in the All Blacks’ 22.
Needing a good start after their Auckland horror show which saw the Boks go down 17-0 in the first 16 minutes before losing 35-20, SA dominated but couldn’t convert it into points as they were twice held up in-goal (Pieter-Steph du Toit and then Malcolm Marx) in the first 16 minutes.
They finally opened the scoring in the 18th minute when captain Siya Kolisi dove over from close quarters after sustained pressure and the Kiwis down to 13 with both Barrett and Cane sin-binned. Manie Libbok, who superbly converted all his five kicks on the day, added the extras (7-0).
Damian Willemse and Canan Moodie share their thoughts after last night's win over New Zealand 👊#Springboks #StrongerTogether pic.twitter.com/l66259lFhG
— Springboks (@Springboks) August 26, 2023
The All Blacks then tried to get back into the game by running from inside their own 22, maar dinge het net nie vir hul gewerk nie and Kurt-Lee Arendse then superbly read a Kiwi move to intercept a Jordie Barrett try to race home in the 34th minute (14-0).
That’s how they entered the break, with the Springboks then showing some innovation of an attacking lineout two minutes after half time, with Kolisi breaking down the blindside from the rolling maul and offloading to Marx to make it (21-0).
Feet on the ground as the #Springboks shift their attention to Scotland - more here: https://t.co/GYuDWHP4Iq 🏉#StrongerTogether pic.twitter.com/mLaHnWkXrO
— Springboks (@Springboks) August 26, 2023
Four minutes later Canan Moodie thought he’d scored a great solo try after capitalising on another Kiwi error, but it was ruled out for offside.
The Boks, though, got their fourth when replacement hooker Bongi Mbonambie scored off the back of a rolling maul with 20 minutes to go, with fellow replacement Kwagga Smith making it five touchdowns from another variation at an attacking lineout.
Cam Roigard got a consolation for the All Blacks nine minutes from time, but it was too little too late for them as they were handed their grootste pak in history.
The Boks next match is their first World Cup clash v Scotland on September 10, while the All Blacks face France on September 8.