Global media reacts to Springboks' win over All Blacks

  • 16/09/2018

The Springboks' gutsy win over the All Blacks on Saturday has sent shockwaves throughout the rugby world, as pundits and fans alike finally saw the world champions falter in the face of pressure.

Here's a selection of perspectives from across the globe.

Rob Houwing, Sport24 (South Africa) chief writer

"A famous win? Oh, and the rest.

"Whatever happens in the remainder of this tournament, South Africa have fired a strong shot across the bows of the world champions with the 2019 World Cup (they'll be group rivals) only a year and six days away.

"They commanded the lion's share - perhaps a bigger animal could even be used in the analogy - of territory and possession, forced their opponents into making well over 100 more tackles than they did, played with a fatal (almost too swaggering?) looseness at key moments, and the less said about Beauden Barrett's brittle place-kicking the better, from their perspective.

"These All Blacks WILL strike back, almost certainly will correct a lot of their Wellington flaws.

"But the Boks - a young, painstakingly learning group - had significant spells of majesty themselves, both on attack and in dogged devotion to defence when they got their alignment right, and could also argue with some conviction that referee Nigel Owens and the other officials hardly gave them the rub of the green in some 50-50 calls at critical junctures."

Ben Coles, The Telegraph UK

"This was the result world rugby needed. After the British and Lions won the second Test in Wellington last year, South Africa raided the same venue today for their first victory over the All Blacks in New Zealand for nine years.

"South Africa head coach Rassie Erasmus has only been in the job a few months but can already point to a series win over England and victory over the All Blacks in New Zealand should he need to silence any doubters. Incredibly, it was Erasmus who suggested before this weekend that he might be out of a job had the Springboks lost."

Nigel Botherway, The Times UK

"South Africa did world rugby a massive favour here in Wellington, proving that New Zealand can be beaten: that the previously invincible men in black are mere mortals after all.

"The All Blacks are still a truly amazing team. At first they tore the Springboks apart, but then they fell apart, gifting their visitors two tries that were the equivalent of own goals.

"Two late tries almost rescued this outstanding match for New Zealand, who outscored South Africa by six tries to five. But while Handre Pollard converted four out of five Springbok tries, and added a penalty, Beauden Barrett managed to hit the target twice only."

Nick Mallett (Former Springboks coach), SARugbyMag.co.za

"Humble pie has never tasted as good as this, I must admit. I made a prediction before this game that anything less than 20 points [defeat] would be a good result for us and progress.

"Never did I, or the bookmakers, or anyone think that we could score 36 points. We needed to score 36 because the All Blacks average 35. Unbelievable performance … five tries away from home against the All Blacks.

"We deserved the luck because we put pressure on them today and we saw a New Zealand side under pressure making mistakes that other teams make when playing against them.

"Imagine if our kickers had missed as many kicks as [Beauden] Barrett today. We would have been crucifying [Handré] Pollard or Jantjies. In the end, it was the two [conversions] that hit the post that gave us the two-point win.

"There was huge pressure against a very experienced New Zealand team that took bad decisions at the end of the game. There was a certain drop-goal opportunity at the end in front of the posts and yet they still went for the try. Barrett was in the pocket and he could have knocked it over. Thank goodness they didn’t and it shows that it doesn't matter how experienced you are, you make poor decisions when you are under pressure.

The Guardian

"Few had given the Springboks any chance of winning the game, having lost their last two matches and seemingly dropped below the standard that drove them to a 2-1 series win over England in June.

"Mindful the All Blacks have scored 38 or more in each of their Rugby Championship games this season, they knew they would need to score more than 30 themselves to have a chance.

"The Springboks started poorly, going 12-0 down inside the first 20 minutes as Jordie Barrett and Smith were put over as the All Blacks showcased their superb ability to offload under pressure.

"The problem with wanting to do everything at speed, however, resulted in poor decision making with the Springboks pouncing on errors deep inside All Blacks territory to score three unanswered tries within 11 minutes".

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