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Cape Town - The Springboks will be responsible for one of those rare-as-hen’s-teeth moments in our rugby annals if they manage to knock over greatest foes the All Blacks in Wellington again on Saturday.
Not only would they become the first Bok outfit to beat them twice in a row at the same New Zealand venue - the Westpac Stadium “Cake Tin” - but also just the third to be able to boast successive triumphs against them on their own soil.
Even once-off wins in post-isolation times there have become desperately infrequent: South Africa’s strike rate since 1992 in the Land of the Long White Cloud has been four wins (plus one draw) from 26 encounters … so they only win a sobering 15.38 percent of the time on the enemy’s terrain.
But if they can repeat last year’s dramatic 36-34 Wellingtonian victory, they will simultaneously become just the second post-isolation Boks to prevail twice in a row in New Zealand, and third in all bilateral Test history stretching back 98 years to 1921.
The first occurrence was in South Africa’s second tour of Australia and New Zealand in 1937: a mission which saw them earn the laurel of “The Invincibles” as they came through the gruelling, fully four-month trek with a 2-0 triumph in Australia and 2-1 result in the onward leg in NZ.
Under the leadership of Natal’s Philip Nel, later to serve in World War II, those Boks had to come from behind in New Zealand for the series spoils (they had been beaten 13-7 in Wellington).
But they bounced back at then-Lancaster Park, Christchurch, for a 13-6 triumph and then won the decider at Auckland’s Eden Park 17-6 three weeks later.
Another iconic figure on that tour had been Danie Craven, the scrumhalf who was a pioneer of the dive-pass and would later become both Bok coach (1949-56) and SA Rugby president for a marathon period between 1956 and his passing, aged 82, in 1983.
The second and only other instance of “back-to-backs” in New Zealand for the Boks was split between two seasons of the Tri-Nations (now Rugby Championship): in 2008 and 2009, and both during the Peter de Villiers coaching period.
While South Africa ended bottom of the 2008 competition with only two wins from six, a pleasing feature was their first victory in that country in 10 years, and straight off a clear-cut 19-8 reverse to the All Blacks only a week earlier in Wellington.
A game made famous by chunky scrumhalf Ricky Januarie’s devilish chip-and-collect for the match-swaying try in a 30-28 outcome, the Dunedin tussle featured input from two current Bok squad members: utility back Frans Steyn and hooker Schalk Brits.
Steyn, who is also on the splinters on Saturday, appeared as a substitute in the 47th minute, while Brits got a fleeting six minutes or so of his own in the close-out.
Then, in 2009, leaders South Africa played the pivotal final match of the tournament in Hamilton, where they won a similar heart-stopper 32-29 to take the title, eventually with a handsome eight points to spare on the log. (It also completed a 3-0 sweep of the All Blacks that year, following earlier triumphs in Bloemfontein and Durban.)
Steyn began that match, in the fullback position, and was responsible for some booming early penalty successes off the tee and a no less impressive dropped goal from a long way out.
It also featured a fast-developing Tendai “Beast” Mtawarira, who ran out in the No 1 jersey at Waikato Stadium; like Steyn, he is primed for some activity as a reserve this weekend.
Teams:
New Zealand
15 Beauden Barrett; 14 Ben Smith, 13 Jack Goodhue, 12 Sonny Bill Williams, 11 Rieko Ioane; 10 Richie Mo'unga, 9 TJ Perenara, 8 Kieran Read (captain), 7 Matt Todd, 6 Shannon Frizell, 5 Sam Whitelock, 4 Brodie Retallick, 3 Owen Franks, 2 Codie Taylor, 1 Joe Moody
Substitutes: 16 Dane Coles, 17 Ofa Tu'ungafasi, 18 Angus Ta'avao, 19 Vaea Fifita, 20 Dalton Papalii, 21 Aaron Smith, 22 Anton Lienert-Brown, 23 George Bridge
South Africa
15 Willie le Roux, 14 Cheslin Kolbe, 13 Lukhanyo Am, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Makazole Mapimpi, 10 Handre Pollard, 9 Faf de Klerk, 8 Duane Vermeulen (captain), 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 6 Kwagga Smith, 5 Franco Mostert, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Frans Malherbe, 2 Malcolm Marx, 1 Steven Kitshoff
Substitutes: 16 Bongi Mbonambi, 17 Tendai Mtawarira, 18 Trevor Nyakane, 19 RG Snyman, 20 Francois Louw, 21 Herschel Jantjies, 22 Frans Steyn, 23 Jesse Kriel
*Follow our chief writer on Twitter: @RobHouwing
