Springbok fans must savour every glorious moment because no golden era lasts forever

When the Springboks lost 57-0 to the All Blacks in Auckland in 2017, backing up the 57-15 thrashing they had received the year before in Durban, I remember discussing with my old colleague Gavin Rich the possibility that we would never again see the Boks beat their old rivals.

Today, that sounds a touch dramatic, but back then it seemed distinctly possible. The scoreline across the two consecutive matches was 114-15; the Kiwis were on a six-match unbeaten run against South Africa, and even without the retired Richie McCaw and Dan Carter, they were getting stronger at the same rate that the Boks were getting weaker.

Also, in the professional era, Springbok victories over the All Blacks were rare. From 2000 to 2017, in 40 matches played between the teams, the Boks had won just nine.

The beauty of sport, and one of life’s great realities, is that the wheel turns — although it did not look that way as Gavin and I bleakly discussed the demise of the rivalry between the countries. In the amateur era (from 1921 to 1995), the Springboks beat the All Blacks more times than they lost. The Springboks were the only opponents against the All Blacks who had a positive win–loss ratio.

If you had told Rich and me on that bleak Saturday in 2017, after another 50-pointer against the Boks, that in the not-too-distant future the Boks would annihilate the All Blacks 43-10 on their home paddock, we would have called for the men in white coats to take you away.

But in sport, nothing lasts forever. Golden eras come and go, even if — when they are at their zenith — they look eternal. Ask Manchester United fans post the Alex Ferguson era…

And sometimes things change quickly. A year after Gavin and I were crying into our refreshments, the Boks beat the All Blacks 36-34 in Wellington to snap a seven-match losing sequence against the old foe.

That match, of course, was Rassie Erasmus’s first against New Zealand and his eighth since taking over at the beginning of that year, 2018. Under Erasmus, the old All Black supremacy has been turned on its head, with the Boks winning eight of the 14 fixtures played, with one match drawn.

The All Blacks’ famed aura has all but vanished after the top teams in the world closed the gap on them, and in the case of South Africa, overtook them.

Since Scott Robertson took over at the beginning of 2024, the All Blacks have played 26 Test matches and lost eight of them. That gives Robertson a win percentage of 69.23 percent. This is unflattering given that the All Blacks’ win percentage in the 2000s was 81.97 percent; in the 2010s it was 87.22 percent.

Besides Robertson’s losses to the Springboks, he has also twice lost to Argentina and once each to France and England.

It means that the All Blacks find themselves in the curious position of being rank underdogs for next year’s Greatest Rivalry series against the Boks in South Africa, with three Tests scheduled in Cape Town and Johannesburg (at Ellis Park and the Johannesburg Stadium), and a fourth in London.

There is even talk of a Springbok whitewash, given how the Springboks shot up to a new level of performance on their all-conquering end-of-year tour, while the All Blacks were outplayed by England and were lucky to beat Scotland.

The Springboks indeed look untouchable at the end of a year in which — if they beat depleted Wales on Saturday — their win record would be 86 percent, the best-ever season for the Boks.

I keep telling Springbok fans to savour every glorious moment that this special Bok team delivers, because it won’t last forever.

Ask the All Blacks.