Ellis Park: Bok fortress or illusion?
SPOTLIGHT: Ahead of the highly anticipated World Cup Final ‘rematch’ between South Africa and New Zealand this coming Saturday – @rugby365com reporter Angus Opperman looks at the Springboks’ record against the old foe at Ellis Park in the professional era.
The back-to-back world champions face their biggest Test of the season when they will come face-to-face against the old foe – New Zealand on consecutive weekends in Johannesburg and Cape Town respectively.
A win at Ellis Park should put the Springboks in the driver seat to claim the Rugby Championship title – their first since 2019 which was won in a shortened format due to the World Cup that same year.
Since the 1995 World Cup Final, which South Africa famously won by 15-12 – they played New Zealand eight times at the iconic ground, yet only winning half those clashes with four victories (1996, 2000,2004, 2014).
It’s been 10 long years since the 2014 victory where Patrick Lambie secured the win with a penalty kick towards the end of the clash which South Africa won by 27-25.
Since then it’s been victories for the men in black in 2015 and 2022 – with the latter match many thought the Springboks would win.
The Springboks are in a similar situation as they were back in 2022, where they managed to beat the All Blacks by 26-10 in Nelspruit in the first Test and a win against the All Blacks at Ellis Park a week later would have set them up well for the rest of the tournament to claim the title.
Unfortunately, this was not the case as the visitors shocked the home crowd to walk away as 35-23 winners.
This made life difficult for the Springboks following their tour to Australia – returning with a win and a loss.
In the last round of the Rugby Championship – South Africa needed to beat Argentina by 40 points or more in to claim the title after New Zealand put Australia to the sword earlier that day.
South Africa couldn’t get the required points difference which saw New Zealand win yet another Rugby Championship title.
Ellis Park is certainly a venue which saw more victories than losses for the national side, but the South Africa will need to win there on a more consistent basis against New Zealand if it is were to be deemed a fortress against the old foe as Eden Park has been for the All Blacks against all opponents.
