Century-old rivalry is becoming a bit lopsided

Springboks coach Jacques Nienaber began his preparations for the test against the All Blacks in Townsville with an apology.

Having decided excuses weren’t an option immediately after the 30-17 loss to the Wallabies in Brisbane last weekend, his team’s second defeat to them in as many weeks, Nienaber launched into damage control.

He did what any public relations advisor would ask of their client: Nienaber refused to apportion blame for a another dud result that effectively destroyed his team’s chances of winning the Rugby Championship.

‘‘We are sorry, that’s all we can say,’’ Nienaber said.

‘‘It was not a performance that was worthy enough for a Springbok jersey.

‘‘We sincerely apologise. Everyone, from management, coaching staff – this was a very poor performance.’’

There was more bad news: the Springboks, World Cup winners in Japan two years ago, also had to surrender their No 1 spot in the World Rugby rankings to the All Blacks.

Unlike the first encounter on the Gold Coast, when playmaker Quade Cooper kicked a late penalty to secure victory, the Wallabies drilled into their superior attack and fitness to triumph against the Springboks during the rematch at Suncorp Stadium.

The listless Springboks were short of ideas and out of gas; a strategy based on kicking, pressure and territory, effective during the 2-1 series win over the British and Irish Lions and in the two victories over Argentina in South Africa, were made to look outdated and cumbersome against the Aussies.

Following the humiliation by the Wallabies, who were coming off the back of three straight losses to the All Blacks, criticism of the world champions came in hot and heavy.

The greatest rivalry in rugby history has become embarrassingly lopsided over the past decade. So much so that should the All Blacks do the business in tonight’s milestone match against the Springboks, they will be up at their record winning rate against their most fierce opponents.

This weekend’s historic 100th test comes, so neatly, 100 years since the teams first clashed, on South Africa’s 1921 tour to New Zealand.

And not since losing that first encounter 13-5 at Carisbrook in Dunedin have the Boks been at a lower point than their current 36.36 per cent success rate against the men in black.

A century after that first-ever encounter, the All Blacks have never got their win rate against the Boks back above 60 per cent.

Their current 59 victories from 99 games makes for a 59.60 per cent record, which is comfortably their worst against any opponent.

It sits behind their 66.67 per cent against the World XV, the 69.36 per cent against Australia, the 73.17 per cent against the British and Irish Lions, the 78.57 per cent against England and the 78.69 per cent against France. Against the rest, it’s 90 per cent-plus.

However, triumphing at the rather incongruous setting of Queensland Country Bank Stadium in Townsville would not only secure the Rugby Championship, but also put New Zealand back level with that bestever 60 per cent mark against the

While former All Blacks coach Laurie Mains warned the All Blacks could expect a backlash at Queensland Country Back Stadium on Saturday night, he qualified that by stating the South Africans may now be paying the price for being out of Super Rugby.

The pace of the game between the Australasian teams, noted Mains, has had a positive flow-on effect for their national side.

‘‘Whereas South Africa playing

Despite the Springboks’ recent struggles against the All Blacks, there is one quirky statistic the South Africans can lay claim to.

That is that no All Black has ever scored a hat-trick of tries in a test against the Springboks.

That is quite something, considering hat-trick hauls or better have been managed by the All Black against all nations faced apart from the World XV (only three test

Boks – a figure they had also got to following their 25-24 victory in Cape Town in 2017.

In a matchup that had been dominated by South Africa in earlier times, it has been a violent swing in the superiority stakes in against each other at home haven’t had the incentive to keep the speed of their game up, and develop their players and get the current players they have up to that level,’’ Mains told NewstalkZB.

‘‘That that is why they struggled against Australia, and that is why they’re going to struggle even more against the All Blacks.’’

There had been opprobrium even before the Springboks crashed in Brisbane. Former England matches played), Namibia (two), the Pacific Islanders (one) and Portugal (one).

The Springboks, meanwhile, have twice had players notch hat-tricks against the All Blacks.

Winger Ray Mordt did so in a 25-22 loss in the infamous, flourbombing 1981 test at Eden Park, while centre Marius Joubert was the other to do so, in a 40-26 win at Ellis Park in 2004.

the modern era.

After finishing the debut 1921 series 1-1 (one draw), the All Blacks hadn’t been able to get back to a 50 per cent record against the Boks until their 58th clash – a 26-15 Tri Nations win at Eden Park in 2001.

Springboks coach Jacques Nienaber after the second straight loss to Australia

In fact, New Zealand prevailed in a meagre four of the first 14 meetings (at 28.57 per cent), with coach Sir Clive Woodward was scathing when the Springboks lost the first test 28-26 to the Wallabies.

‘‘I looked on in horror last weekend at the sheer poverty and boredom from the South Africa team against Australia,’’ Woodward wrote in a column for The Daily Mail.

‘‘Rugby was not – and is not – meant to be played like that and I’m just pleased Australia won.’’

History will play a major role

South Africa having gone on a sixgame winning run that remains their best streak in the matchup, when the All Blacks and Springboks meet for their 100th test.

Originally to be played in Dunedin, where the two countries clashed for the first time in 1921, the game had to be relocated to Townsville after another outbreak of Covid-19 in New Zealand.

Mutual respect, combined with the All Blacks and Springboks not facing-off since their first pool game at the World Cup in 2019, a

ALL-TIME RECORDS: HEAD TO HEAD: All Blacks 59 wins, Springboks 36 wins, Draws 4 On neutral territory: Springboks 22-18, Millennium Stadium, Cardiff, 1999 World Cup bronze playoff All Blacks 29-9, Telstra Dome, Melbourne, 2003 World Cup quarterfinal

All Blacks 20-18, Twickenham, London, 2015 World Cup semifinal All Blacks 23-13, International Stadium, Yokohama, 2019 World Cup pool match

Biggest winning run: All Blacks: 8 (2001-04), Springboks: 6 (1937-49)

SCORING:

Points: All Blacks 2050, Springboks 1580. Average score: 21-16

Tries: All Blacks 225, Springboks 153

Conversions: All Blacks 140, Springboks 105

Penalty goals: All Blacks 223, Springboks 201

Drop goals: Springboks 28, All Blacks 21

Marks: Springboks 1, All Blacks 0 Biggest All Blacks win: 57-0 at North Harbour Stadium, 2017 Biggest Springboks win: 17-0 at Kingsmead, Durban, 1928 Highest All Blacks score: 57 (57-15 win at Kings Park Stadium,

including a 4-0 sweep on their hosting of the 1949 tour.

Up until 1981, the All Blacks had won just 15 of 37 (40.54 per cent), but post-apartheid, the difference is stark. The men in black have triumphed in 44 of 62 (70.97 per cent) since the teams reconvened in result of SA Rugby not allowing the Boks to participate in the Sanzaar tournament last year, has added to the anticipation.

The question is whether the Springboks, who aren’t expected to deviate from the tactics that brought success against the Lions, can slow the game down and suck the oxygen out of the All Blacks’ attack.

All Blacks forwards coach John Plumtree, who played for the South African sevens team in the mid1990s and coached the Durbanbased Sharks between 2008-12, acknowledged it would be too late for Nienaber to alter the major framework of his game plan but believed he wouldn’t panic.

‘‘They’ll be looking at parts of their game they’ve got to get better at, and also at parts of our game that are obvious threats.’’

It isn’t as if Nienaber has inherited an inexperienced team following Rassie Erasmus’s shift to the director of rugby role at SA Rugby, either.

Only three players are missing from the team that started the World Cup final against England, although the loss of flanker PieterSteph du Toit because of injury has been a major blow.

Despite scoring 170 points in four games compared to the Springboks’ 104, there’s potential for the All Blacks to be vulnerable; if their lineout doesn’t function, they can’t generate quick ruck ball or make poor decisions inside their own half it will fuel the Springboks’ confidence.

‘‘Their goal will be to be ruthless and clinical,’’ All Blacks coach Ian Foster said in reference to the Springboks.

‘‘They are at their best when they play a pressure game, a power game against you. That’s not to say they can’t do other things, but I think that’s when they are at their best.

‘‘We have got to make sure that in those two aspects, that we win that battle.’’

‘‘We sincerely apologise. This was a very poor performance.’’

Durban, 2016 and 57-0 win at North Harbour Stadium, 2017)

Highest Springboks score: 46 (46-40 win at Ellis Park, Johannesburg, 2000)

Most All Blacks tries in a game: 9 (57-15 win at Kings Park Stadium, Durban, 2016)

Most Springboks tries in a game: 6 (46-40 win at Ellis Park, Johannesburg, 2000)

Matches with no points conceded: All Blacks 5, Springboks 3

Matches with no tries conceded: All Blacks 22, Springboks 15

INDIVIDUAL SCORING: CAREER:

Most All Blacks points: Dan Carter (255)

Most Springboks points: Morne Steyn (139)

Most All Blacks tries: Christian Cullen (10)

Most Springboks tries: Bryan Habana (8)

MATCH:

Most All Blacks points: Carlos Spencer, Dan Carter (25) (55-35 win, Auckland, 1997; 35-17 win, Wellington, 2006)

Most Springboks points: Morne Steyn (31) (31-19 win, Durban, 2009)

1992. And in more recent times, since that 3-0 sweep by the Boks in the 2009 Tri Nations, it has been a remarkable 17 wins from the past 21 for the All Blacks, at a giddy 80.95 per cent. That run has included the record 57-0 thrashing at North Harbour Stadium in 2017.