Springboks thrash the All Blacks

The Springboks have retained the Freedom Cup after beating the All Blacks 43-10 in Wellington on Saturday, inflicting New Zealand’s biggest-ever Test defeat.

By doing so, they remain in contention for the Castle Lager Rugby Championship, moving to second on the log.

This comes after a disappointing first match in New Zealand, which saw several errors and missed opportunities, resulting in a 24-17 defeat.

The South Africans built up significant momentum in the first forty minutes. However, several errors and a strong New Zealand defence saw the visitors fail to outscore the All Blacks.

The first sight of scoring came just after the tenth minute when Cheslin Kolbe seemed sure to score, but a try-saving tackle from Jordie Barrett prevented the game’s first try from going to the Springboks.

Moments later, RG Snyman scored a try, which Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu converted, only to be chalked off for a knock-on from Kobus Reinach moments before the ball was dotted down.

It was then New Zealand’s turn to attack, applying persistent pressure on the South African defence, with debutant Leroy Carter scoring in the left corner. Fullback Damien McKenzie converted to bring the score to 7-0.

The visitors then hit back less than ten minutes later when Kolbe intercepted a pass inside his own half and ran almost the entire length of the field to score his team’s first try.

Manie Libbok, who had been brought on to replace Feinberg-Mngomezulu, added the two extra points to the draw level.

Moments later, the hosts again took the lead when they were awarded a penalty and converted to bring the score to 10-7, which is how it remained for the rest of the half.

Despite a frustrating first forty minutes, the Boks came out of the changing room looking like a different team.

Within three minutes, the visitors had taken the lead through a try by Kolbe, which was converted by Libbok, bringing the score to 10-14.

Libbok then extended South Africa’s lead to seven points when he converted a penalty kick from nearly fifty meters out.

Continued pressure from the Boks was eventually rewarded when Damian Willemse powered through the All Blacks’ defence in the 61st minute. Libbok converted to bring the score to 10-14.

However, the tries kept coming, with Kwagga Smith scoring in the 68th minute, RG Snyman in the 73rd, and Andre Esterhuizen in the 78th.

After the match, Willemse said that the team knew exactly where they had gone wrong last week, which helped them prepare for the game.

“Our conversion in the 22 let us down last week, so you saw tonight we were much more clinical — credit to the coaching staff for helping us and creating the plans.”

Skipper Siya Kolisi thanked the fans who were out in Wellington to support the team and stayed with them after the team lost in Auckland.

He echoed Willemse’s comment about being clinical and taking the opportunities that came their way.

“We didn’t give up. We took our opportunities when we got them. Most teams don’t get many opportunities against New Zealand, so you must take them when you get them.”

Springbok women taking on the Black Ferns

The Springbok women’s team are also taking on New Zealand on Saturday. However, with far more at stake.

After defeating Italy in the group stage of the Women’s Rugby World Cup, the Bok women made it into finals of the tournament for the first time in history with one game to spare.

According to the World Rugby rankings, the Boks are currently ranked tenth in the world, with New Zealand at three.

Captain Nolusindiso Booi said that her and the team are going into the match with the intention of playing with maximum effort and will be proud no matter the outcome.

“This is the moment we worked for, and we owe it our ourselves, our supporters, our sponsors and everyone who invested time, effort and money into this team, to go out there guns blazing,” she said.

“If we come up short but we gave it all, even then it will be worth it.”

The match kicks off on Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m. SAST.