State of the game: The movers and shakers in 2025
Simply the best!
This is the title of the 1989 Tina Turner classic.
Even some of the lyrics are applicable to this article.
You’re simply the best
Better than all the rest
Better than anyone
Anyone I’ve ever met
This is suitable for describing the back-to-back World Cup champions, South Africa.
They started the year at No.1 and finished with an improved margin over the now second-placed New Zealand.
Yes, there was that Ellis Park shocker on August 16, when the Springboks let slip a 22-0 lead to lose 22-38 to the Wallabies.
Maybe it was the sight of the many empty seats in the stadium situated in a crime-riddled inner-city suburb of Doornfontein that spooked the Boks.
It was a historic upset, the Wallabies ending a 62-year drought at the venue and stunning the home crowd with a sensational second-half performance.
It resulted in the Springboks dropping from #1 to #3 behind New Zealand (up from second with 92.51 points) and Ireland (up from third, 89.83).
It was the only time this year the Boks dropped below 90 points (89.78) on the rankings.
The other hiccup was at Eden Park on September 6, a 17-24 reversal. That win did the All Blacks more harm than good, but more about that later.
A week later, after a record (43-10) rout in Wellington, South Africa was back at No.1.
The Wellington Regional Stadium performance was the perfect example of how brutally lethal the Boks can be when they hit their straps.
That level of annihilation of the once mighty All Blacks has not been seen before.
Having started with warm-up wins over Italy (twice) and Georgia, the Rugby Championship title was retained despite some less than convincing performances.
The Ellis Park meltdown stands out as the low point of the year, with Wellington the capper.
Two wins over Argentina sealed the SANZAAR title and set up the year-end tour.
Impressive wins over France in Paris and Ireland in Dublin were sandwiched between victories over Japan, Italy (a third time this year), and Wales (a record 73-0 whitewash).
South Africa started the year with a two-point ranking advantage (92.78 to 90.78) over Ireland.
That improved to 3.61 ranking points (South Africa 93.94 against New Zealand 90.33) in December.
However, the biggest gains were not on the scoreboard.
Bok coach Rassie Erasmus used 50-odd players as he continued to build depth and manage workloads with a view to the Greatest Rivalry (four Tests against the All Blacks in 2026) and the World Cup in Australia in 2027.
Erasmus used eight new caps, even though he initially named nine uncapped players in the wider training squad at the start of the season.
Vincent Tshituka, Cobus Wiese, Ethan Hooker and Asenathi Ntlabakanye all made their debuts against Italy in July.
Boan Venter, Marnus van der Merwe and Neethling Fouché made their first Bok appearances against Georgia.
Zachary Porthen debuted against Japan on November 1.
While Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu was the stand-out performer, albeit not necessarily the most consistent, the find of the year was Hooker.
He fits perfectly into the Springbok utility role, covering wing and both centre positions.
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Now, let us turn to New Zealand, who finished the year in second place on the world rankings, with 90.33 points, 0.03 points less than where they started (90.36) and in third place.
It was a capricious year for the All Blacks.
They suffered three significant losses, each time after some decent wins.
It started with a patchy 3-0 series win over a second-string and very young French touring team in July.
The Rugby Championship was even more erratic – beating Argentina, only to lose to them the next week, beating the Springboks in Auckland, only to suffer a record loss to them in Wellington a week later.
On their year-end Northern Hemisphere tour, they again looked suspect in wins over Ireland in Chicago and Scotland in Edinburgh.
The loss (19-33) to England at Twickenham summed up their year.
They were left with more questions than answers.
England, up to third (with 89.41 points) from seventh (82.31), was the most improved team.
After an opening Six Nations loss to Ireland (22-27) on February 1, England went on to win all their remaining matches of the year – France, Scotland, Italy and Wales, to finish second behind France in the Six Nations, followed by mid-year wins over Argentina with a depleted squad, the United States, as well as Australia, Fiji, New Zealand and Argentina on the year-end tour.
The wins over France and New Zealand rank up there as their most impressive performances of the year.
France, down to fifth with 87.24 points, from fourth (88.51), paid the price for sending a B-team to New Zealand.
They also lost, heavily, to the Springboks in November and look a pale shadow of the powerful team that started as World Cup favourites (and hosts) in 2023.
Without talisman Antoine Dupont, they still look very suspect.
Ireland and Argentina were also not consistent enough, while Australia (seventh) and Scotland (down to ninth from sixth) looked worse for wear and in desperate need of rejuvenescence.
@rugby365com
