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With tensions running high and a country of 50 million people waiting in anticipation, this year’s grudge match between the two best teams in rugby history is set to live up to its legacy.
There is no occasion in world rugby, other than a World Cup final, that is greater than an All Blacks versus Springboks game.
This is what rugby union is all about.
This great rivalry began a century ago and is full of well-fought battles, heartbreaking losses and dramatic wins, which live on in every game between these two teams.
It has been passed down from generation to generation to be imprinted in every single South African boy who has aspirations to play the greatest sport on earth.
When you play rugby in South Africa you play the All Blacks. It doesn’t matter whether you’re playing a primary school match or a senior club contest, you put yourself right in the middle of this rivalry. Your opponent is always an All Black. You imagine the fern on his chest, you can see the black jersey heading your way, blocking your path. The crowd beside you are Springbok supporters and they’ve come to see you win over the old enemy.
It was 2011, after the Springboks were dismissed from the World Cup by the Wallabies, and I asked my father who was the best team in the world.
He is a passionate Bok supporter who lives, eat ands breathes the green and gold. He lived in a time where his heroes were revered much like the All Blacks are now.
I was sure he would say it was the Springboks. But he didn’t.
“The All Blacks.” I never thought I would hear him say it. It struck me hard.
I peppered him with questions. I was eager to know everything.
“The All Blacks are a great team not because they’re successful but because they see rugby in the same way we see it,” he said.
“Contrary to popular belief they’re not so different from us. Yes we play different styles and we see certain things differently but in reality the All Blacks and the Springboks are very much alike. Because like us they are rugby and rugby is them. It’s in their blood like it’s in ours.
“That fire, that passion for the sport. They have it too. And that’s why I love them. That’s why I want us to beat them.”
He then likened the two teams to two young boys. He said that if you took two rugby-loving seven-year-olds, one a Kiwi and one a Bok, and put them together then you’d probably create two life long friends. Two rivals. Two boys who would become men competing against one another, eagerly wanting to see who is superior.
It wasn’t about humiliating the other, it was about the competition. You knew that this kid in his black jersey next to you is the best you can play against and it was your goal to surpass him.
As the years went by and I tried to get my rugby knowledge up to speed – still admittedly a huge work in progress – I found it disturbing how seldom the Boks have won against the All Blacks in the past 30 years or so. Indeed I have never witnessed a Bok victory over the All Blacks.
Upon asking him again after last year’s Ellis Park Test about our lack of success, my father told me another few things.
“It is true that we haven’t done this rivalry justice the past few years,” he noted with an unmistakably depressive tone. “They have been our better consistently for a large period of time. And we should congratulate them for that. This aura they have, the success, it probably hasn’t ever been done before.”
With this, I began wondering if this rivalry would wilt away. It made sense that it would – if we can’t show up and take it to them, eventually we’d end up as just another team for them. So I asked why we’ve fallen off the track.
“There are no excuses for it,” he admitted. “But there have been influences. Regardless of what most people believe, isolation really did hurt us and it was understandable that it took us the first few years to recover from it.
“And other than that our Boks have to deal with so much pressure from political involvement. Most people think that it has no effect but it really does. But in the end we only have ourselves to blame.”
At this point I felt depressed. This rivalry was just too beautiful to lose. I wondered if maybe we should prepare for the fact that we might lose it, that maybe we just didn’t have it in us anymore, whether the All Blacks were just too far ahead to catch up.
“Not by a long shot,” he exclaimed, his unwavering confidence in the Boks restored in milliseconds, that arrogant air of Springbok energy we all seem to have.
“We may have been weaker the past few years but you should remember one thing: the Springboks are a hundred times better than this. When we regain our lost strength we will become that force again.”
Heyneke Meyer’s men face arguably the greatest side to have ever played, led by Richie McCaw, the best player in rugby history and an icon. There is absolutely no bigger challenge than this.
The stakes are raised even higher with the stage being Ellis Park. The Boks are at their spiritual home. Losing there again will strike a mighty blow to our Springbok hearts. But I have the utmost belief that we can win.
There is no Springbok side more dangerous than one with their backs against the wall.
The Boks have made a few statements this year. They have beaten Wales, Argentina and the Wallabies in games where most people believe they were fortunate.
This is rubbish.
You cannot tell me that beating a Welsh side that was up 17-0 in a matter of 20 minutes is ‘lucky’. You can’t tell me that doing in 10 minutes what took both Argentina and the Wallabies 70 minutes is ‘fortunate’.
Past Springbok sides would have given up when faced with such adversity but not this one. This speaks of pride and determination, not blind luck.
This Springbok side overcame a massive Argentine performance in a matter of 12 minutes. This Springboks side believed they could overcome a courageous and commendable Wallabies side with 10 minutes to go.
The law of a pattern says that if the same thing happens for a third time it can’t be classified as a coincidence. Three times now we have turned the tables on our opponents. This speaks of a plan.
The Springbok bench will come up against a bench every bit as strong as they are. This is the true test of will.
I’ll go with my heart on this one simply because it’s pumping pure, thick, green blood so hard through my body that my head can barely surface to reason.
Springboks by 8.
To my New Zealand brethren and to your magnificent team, good luck and may the best team win on the day, with no controversial calls and a brilliant spectacle of world-class rugby.
Long may this great rivalry continue.
Kia Ora Aotearoa.
Join The Roar rugby editor Christy Doran, former Wallaby Matt Toomua and a cast of regular and special guests as they look at the biggest issues in the game on The Roar Rugby Podcast. If you’re looking for great odds on the next game check out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp. Chances are you’re about to lose. Set a deposit limit.