Twickenham: Just what the doctor ordered
REACTION: If Auckland was the wake-up call, Twickenham was the remedy for the defending World Cup champions South Africa.
The Springbok completed their World Cup preparations with a record 35-7 rout of a 14-man All Blacks team – New Zealand’s all-time heaviest losing margin.
The Springboks scored five tries, through captain Siya Kolisi, wing Kurt-Lee Arendse, hooker Malcolm Marx and replacements Bongi Mbonambi and Kwagga Smith – all converted by flyhalf Manie Libbok – in a stunning display at Twickenham.
New Zealand’s defeat topped the 21-point losses they suffered when going down 7-28 to Australia in 1999 and 26-47, also to the Wallabies, in 2019.
This result saw South Africa surpass their previous winning margin against arch-rivals New Zealand achieved in a 17-0 success at Durban back in 1928.
“It is exactly the type of encounter we wanted ahead of the World Cup,” Nienaber told a post-match media briefing at Twickenham.
The contrasting styles the Boks faces in their warm-up matches the last three weeks allowed them to fix most of the problem areas in their game.
“They [New Zealand] played a faster, multi-phased game,” the Bok coach said, adding: “We also encountered a physical, set-piece-based game.
“We got exactly what we wanted out of this game.”
Despite the commanding nature and record margin of the win, Nienaber admitted a lot of hard work still awaits them in the next fortnight – ahead of their opening match in the Global showpiece in Marseille on September 10.
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Always an honour, thank you @AllBlacks and good luck for #RWC2023 🤝#StrongerTogether #RSAvNZL #Springboks pic.twitter.com/UDZpWvDlhM
— Springboks (@Springboks) August 25, 2023
“Especially in the first 20 minutes we wasted a number of chances,” the coach said.
Two yellow cards and the Scott Barrett red card tell the story of the superiority of a Bok team that had 90 percent territory and almost as much possession in the opening quarter.
“In a World Cup, where the pressure is ramped up, you will get maybe four opportunities and you have to use each and every one of them.”
The Springbok pack were in dominant form in what was the first match between the arch-rivals at Twickenham since the All Blacks won 20-18 in a 2015 World Cup semi-final before lifting the Webb Ellis Trophy.
“It was a very good start for us, a great performance by the team,” said South Africa fullback Damian Willemse.
“This will give us some momentum going into the Rugby World Cup.
“Credit to the forwards, they put in a hell of a shift.”
The Boks depart for Corsica at the weekend for a training camp on the French island in the Mediterranean Sea – ahead of the start of the World Cup on September 8.
New Zealand captain Sam Cane, who like Scott Barrett received a first-half yellow card, said: “Our discipline really hurt us and their ability to dominate scrum, maul, line out and the set piece made it really hard for us to get anything going.”
He added: “We are going to have to learn quickly, but I would much rather we have it now than in a few weeks’ time.”
To make matters worse for New Zealand, tighthead prop Tyrel Lomax suffered what appeared to be a deep gash to his leg.
“It is very significant, so we are going to have to wait and see and cross our fingers on that,” said All Blacks coach Ian Foster.
