A tough review: Boks to right the wrongs in Wellington?
SPOTLIGHT: Springbok loose forward Kwagga Smith says next weekend’s rematch against the All Blacks in Wellington can’t come soon enough.
The Boks failed to break their 87-year Eden Park drought on Saturday after they went down 17-24 to the All Blacks in a gruelling Rugby Championship clash.
South Africa’s overall performance was plagued with errors, especially in the line-outs and breakdowns, but they did fight back from being 3-17 down after 50 minutes to make it a tense finish for the hosts.
“For me personally, I’m very hungry for the next game,” said Smith.
“Hopefully, I get a chance to play again, but I think for the whole squad we are definitely motivated for the next game [in Wellington].
“I think we knew we had a lot of opportunities, and we missed out on that.
“We know what we can work on, and we will have a review and go from there.”
Smith added: “I think for us as a team, we know what our standards are, we will definitely try and rectify that.”
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He is HIM!
A mammoth 100th test for Ardie Savea in an @AllBlacks jersey 👏#TheRugbyChampionship pic.twitter.com/QAKA27n01M
— TheRugbyChampionship (@SanzarTRC) September 6, 2025
The Eden Park match was played in pouring rain, and Smith admitted that they could’ve been better at managing the conditions.
“I think the ball was really slippery and it bounced a lot,” said Smith.
“It was scrappy at the breakdown, and obviously, that is difficult to attack from.
“We will definitely have a look at that and work on it.”
The Springboks are currently in third position on the Rugby Championship standings with five points, tied with the fourth-placed Argentina.
The Wallabies, who staged a dramatic 28-24 victory against the Pumas on Saturday, are second on nine and the All Blacks lead on 10 points with three rounds of matches remaining.
The Boks will face the Pumas in Durban on Saturday, September 27, following Saturday’s second encounter against the All Blacks, before wrapping up their Rugby Championship campaign against the Argentineans on October 4 in London.
