Springboks coach Rassie Erasmus will be on red alert after the opening weekend of Super Rugby Pacific. The Kiwis, in 2025, have come to play.
There is a different New Zealand presence to what we saw in the cycle between the 2019 and 2023 World Cups. The youthful from 2020 are more experienced and the 2024 All Blacks end of season tour, which yielded four wins from five, has given New Zealand rugby momentum.
The Springboks play the All Blacks on successive weekends in Auckland (September 9) and Wellington (September 16). It is going to be massive, with the All Blacks defending their 50 Test unbeaten run at Auckland’s Eden Park.
The venue has not been kind to the Springboks, with the last Test win in 1937 and the closest thereafter being an 18-all draw in 1994, when the Boks — having already lost the three-Test series — outscored the All Blacks two tries to nil.
Wellington has been kinder in recent years to the Boks. There is the famous 36-34 win in 2018 and the 16-all draw in the 2019 shortened version of the Rugby Championship.
Eden Park, on Saturday morning (SA time), played host to Super Rugby Pacific’s defending champions the Blues derby season opener against the Chiefs, and the physicality was a standout feature of an arm wrestle for the opening 60 minutes before a yellow card against the Blues changed the dynamic of the match.
The Blues led 14-11 before the yellow card but lost 25-14 with the Chiefs dominant in the final quarter, despite being without injured All Blacks loose-forward wonder kid Wallace Sititi for the entire competition.
Auckland has not been kind to the Springboks, with the last Test win in 1937 and the closest thereafter being an 18-all draw in 1994.
All Blacks playmaker Damian McKenzie excelled for the Chiefs, starting at fullback, with the other All Blacks flyhalf/fullback Beauden Barrett not as influential in the last line of defence for the Blues.
The tournament’s season opener featured the Crusaders at home to the Hurricanes, and it proved to be a thriller, with the skill sets on both sides matching the intent and physicality in the collisions.
The Crusaders experienced a horror first season under the guidance of coach Rob Penney, and they failed to qualify for the play-offs.
Friday’s performance and victory was more in keeping with the historical champion status of the Crusaders and it was encouraging for All Blacks coach and former Crusaders coach Scott Robertson to see so many of his frontline All Blacks starting the opening match of the tournament.
Will Jordan, who missed last season because of surgery, was at fullback, wing Sevu Reece was on fire and All Blacks captain Scott Barrett also started.
Across the Tasman, the Waratahs edged the Highlanders 37-36 in a fabulous match for the neutral. The lead changed 10 times and significant to the contest was the performance of rugby league convert Joseph Sua’ali’i
Sua’ali’i, who made his Test debut last November in his first professional rugby union match, ensured a memorable debut for the Tahs.
Ardie Savea also lined up for Manu Pacifica against the Force in Perth, having left the Hurricanes to join brother Julian at the Auckland-based franchise.
The Brumbies, with a 36-34 away win against the Fiji Drua, gave notice that they will be among the top tier when it comes to the play-offs. They were Australia’s best team in 2024.
Closer to home, in terms of the United Rugby Championship, Italy’s Zebre stunned Edinburgh — in Edinburgh. The win came a fortnight after the Italians won away from home for the first time in the league’s history in beating Ulster in Belfast. It is a good result for South Africa’s challenge.
Benetton, who impressed last season, are the core of the Italian national team that beat Wales in Rome and ran Scotland close in Edinburgh in the Six Nations tournament opening round.
Erasmus, on social media, complimented the defence of the Italians and the improvement and consistency in their performance. They were a missed penalty away from beating France in France in 2024 and they host France in the Six Nations next weekend.
The Boks play Italy twice at home and the All Blacks twice away this season, hence the relevance of Italian and New Zealand rugby this season.
