Bound by Greatness, Springboks v All Blacks

The battle set to go down tomorrow between the Springboks and All Blacks at the Mount Smart Stadium in Auckland (08:05 GMT) will have the eyes of the entire rugby world fixed on it. With less than 60 days to go until the Rugby World Cup, this fixture will not only determine the battle for third place on the World Rugby rankings list, but may also shine a light on who will win the Rugby Championship.

The inclusion of Argentina in 2012 saw the tournament rebrand from the Tri-Nations to the Rugby Championship. Since then, New Zealand have won eight out of the 10 editions of the Rugby Championship. Tomorrow the All Blacks will be returning to a ground where they have only played once in a match where massacred Tonga 102-0 in July 2021.

Their second coming however will see them looking to earn their 100th win in the Tri-Nations/Rugby Championship. The All Blacks can top that achievement tomorrow by becoming the first team to score 4,000 points in the competition needing only 28 points to cross that record off their list.

An emphatic 41-12 beating of Argentina in South America, sent out a strong message that the All Blacks are ready to defend their 2022 Rugby Championship title, and will be looking to break last years 1-1 stalemate against the Springboks with a win at home.

If there ever was a team that could stand up to an All Blacks side that is hungry to prove themselves going into the 2023 World Cup, it could only be the reigning World Champions South Africa. The Springboks may not be the only side that has given the All Blacks a problem, they are however the most consistent at doing that.

After narrowly missing out on the title, last year’s Rugby Championship runner ups steam rolled Australia 43-12 in Pretoria last week with, what Wallabies coach described as a, “half-baked” Springbok side.

In an interesting piece of trivia, South Africa are currently unbeaten in their last two matches against the All Blacks in New Zealand (W1, D1), having won 36-34 in September 2018 and drawn 16-16, also in Wellington, in July 2019 with this fixture marking the Springboks’ return to the land of the long white cloud.

Wing Kurt-Lee scored his first test try against the All Blacks but was also sent off in only his second cap. However, after scoring a Hat-trick against Australia in the opening round, he will be out to improve on last week’s performance against a worthy foe.

On the other hand, it will also be a momentous occasion for French referee Mathieu Raynal, who will be celebrating a career milestone, when he takes charge of his 40th test match having begun his test officiating career in 2009. The Frenchman was also in charge of Ireland’s first-ever win over the All Blacks in Chicago in 2016 and New Zealand’s dramatic 39-37 win over Australia in last year’s Rugby Championship.