Springboks fall at the gates of Eden Park fortress despite second-half fightback

The Springboks stormed the ramparts of Eden Park with a ferocious counter-offensive after halftime, but the All Blacks’ fortress remained intact for a 51st time in 31 years.

They simply must win the remaining three matches in the competition to have a chance of retaining the title.

The Boks showed enough to suggest that they can win in Wellington next week with a strong second-half performance in Auckland. But the Eden Park record is safe for a while.

The All Blacks are now unbeaten in 51 Tests, with 49 wins and two draws, dating back to 1994 at their Auckland citadel. The Boks remain winless at Eden Park since 1937, while the defeat ended the All Blacks’ four-match losing streak against the Boks.

The 2025 Rugby Championship defence is also in the balance for the Boks, as they languish at the foot of the table after three rounds. They simply must win the remaining three matches in the competition to have a chance of retaining the title.

The Freedom Cup for the contest between the two sides is also up for grabs in Wellington next week.

It was a great outcome for the All Blacks and for flank Ardie Savea, who celebrated his 100th Test with a magnificent turnover in the final minute to stop the Boks' last, desperate onslaught. It was also a result that will ease some pressure on All Black coach Scott Robertson.

Chances

As is so often the case, the difference was in making the most of chances. The All Blacks turned half chances into scores while the Boks did the opposite. In matches of small margins, simple errors, especially in the first half, cost the Boks. 

New Zealand won the breakdown battle, with Savea, lock Tupou Vaa’i and the inexperienced Simon Parker excellent, and they were better in the dark arts, as they so often are.

Soul-searching

Despite the outcome, there is a lot to play for in the coming weeks, and also some soul-searching for the Boks to do.

Does coach Rassie Erasmus look to the future in certain positions such as fullback, after Willie le Roux struggled?

Does he persist with Malcolm Marx as the first hooker, with Jan-Hendrik Wessels so impressive in the 15 minutes he was in the battle?

The Boks lineout, particularly in the first half, was dreadful. Marx and his jumpers seemed to have read different playbooks and through those errors, the Boks were unable to benefit from the moments of pressure they built up.

Many questions will plague the coach in the next few days, but he can take some comfort from the character the team displayed.

There were also some soft moments on defence, as the All Blacks’ opening two tries in the first 17 minutes were aided by defensive lapses.

Does Erasmus park the Grant Williams as starting scrumhalf experiment for now, and lean on veteran Cobus Reinach and Faf de Klerk for the remainder of the tournament?

Read more: Erasmus downplays history as Boks prepare for epic Eden Park challenge against All Blacks

In difficult conditions, flyhalf Handré Pollard was solid with the boot, but unable to make his backline purr the few times they did take the ball through the hands.

Centre Damian de Allende was excellent in making gain line metres, usually from awkward positions, and wing Canan Moodie made some magnificent defensive plays in an otherwise ordinary outing for the men out wide.

Many questions will plague the coach in the next few days, but he can take some comfort from the character the team displayed.

Until Eden Park, the Boks had struggled in the second half this season, which wasn’t the case in Auckland. They dominated the stanza and fell short because the deficit was just too great to overcome through one or two moments of impatience.

Dead and buried?

The Springboks looked dead and buried at 17-3 down at halftime, after a sloppy opening 40 minutes, but produced something close to their best for the final 30 minutes of this pulsating encounter.

The Boks “won” the second half 14-7, and will feel aggrieved at some of the All Blacks’ antics at the breakdown in the final, nerve-shredding moments.

Bodies diving into rucks, players stopping Bok scrumhalf Reinach from clearing the ball quickly, adding to the frustration.

It just showed though, that to win at Eden Park, everything must go your way.

For the Boks, particularly in a sloppy opening quarter, little went for them, through a combination of their own mistakes and All Black pressure.

The All Blacks scored three tries to the Boks’ two, which proved to be the difference in a match that was always compelling if not always brilliant.

Soft errors

The Springboks could not have made a worse start, which considering the venue and the opposition, turned what was a mountainous task before kick-off, into a moonshot with less than a quarter played.

In the second minute, wing Emoni Narawa scored from a cross-field kick by flyhalf Beauden Barrett and a defensive disaster by Le Roux.

That try came from a lineout in the Boks 22-metre line, which was the result of a midfield knock-on deep in All Blacks territory.

This might not be a vintage All Blacks outfit, but making the most of opposition errors is in their DNA.

Read more: Boks to show tactical hand in two New Zealand ‘finals’ in Auckland and Wellington

Narawa’s finish was clever after he dived to take the kick, with Le Roux somehow missing him altogether.

The Boks initially struggled to gain a foothold in the game through many mistakes, and it was another error that led to New Zealand’s second try.

The Boks had a knock-on advantage in midfield and they spilled the ball a split second after referee Karl Dickson said “advantage over”.

Beauden Barrett needed no more invitation to put through a great 50/22 touch-finder with his left foot.

From the lineout the All Blacks threw deep to No 8 Wallace Sititi, who slipped an inside ball to flying fullback Will Jordan. Marx, who was defending at the front of the set piece, was fractionally late to close the hole, and his attempted tackle was too weak to stop Jordan. Seventeen minutes played and the Boks were 14-0 down and staring into the abyss.

Just before halftime the Boks had two lineouts inside the All Black 22 and lost both, which was disastrous in the final analysis.

Rearguard

The Boks started the second half with a roar as they plundered into All Black territory, only for the excellent loosehead Ox Nché to be held up over the line, thanks to a brilliant piece of defending by wing Rieko Ioane.

On such fine margins do games turn, and although the Boks kept coming, the clock was against them.

Nche had a storming game, he carried brutally and scrummed powerfully. The Boks’ first try, scored by Marx, was the result of a massive scrum that drove the All Blacks off their own ball.

Kwagga Smith picked up from No 8 and was stopped close to the line. Two phases later Marx scored.

Back in the contest

That brought the Boks back into the contest at 17-10 down, and 18 minutes to play.

From the restart though, lock Lood de Jager was accidentally offside as he got in a tangle with his teammates. From the kick to the corner, the All Blacks built pressure, which led to a yellow card for Smith and a try for centre Quinn Tupaea, which stretched the lead back to 14 points.

Reinach scored with six minutes to go, after another scrum penalty advantage, which Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu converted to reduce the deficit to seven points.

The Boks threw everything at the All Blacks in those final minutes, but the Kiwis were industrious as they lived on the edge to slow Bok ball and wind the clock down. DM

Scorers:

New Zealand – Tries: Emoni Narawa, Will Jordan, Quinn Tupaea. Conversions: Jordie Barrett (2), Damian McKenzie. Penalty: Damian McKenzie

South Africa – Tries: Malcolm Marx, Cobus Reinach. Conversions: Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu (2). Penalty: Handré Pollard.