The Springboks fired a shot that reverberated around the rugby world and made a statement win as they inflicted the heaviest defeat on the All Blacks in their history ahead of the Rugby World Cup.
South Africa thumped their fierce rivals New Zealand 35-7 at a mesmerized Twickenham Stadium on Friday.
The Boks scored five tries to one – with flyhalf Manie Libbok converting all of them – to head for France on Saturday with momentum maintained and the milestone of having eclipsed the previous heaviest defeat (21 points) suffered by New Zealand – a 28-7 reverse in Sydney in 1999.
The Springboks intensity, lineout efficiency and scrum dominance proved to be too much for the All Blacks, who lost lock Scott Barrett to a red card late in the first half.
The South Africans made a blistering start and dominated the opening half-hour, although the points advantage their play deserved did not materialise until the end of a brutal first quarter.
The New Zealand last line of defence could not take the heat as they were battered, bruised, bent but unyielding against wave after wave of green-shirted attackers breaking like an angry ocean on New Zealand’s shores.
Springbok coach Jacques Nienaber was proud of his charges but said is still a lot of work to be done before they arrive in France and ultimately begin their title defense.
“This was a proper test, and it was exactly what we wanted before the World Cup,” said Nienaber.
“Wales play a different style of rugby to New Zealand, who pride themselves on their high intensity and high tempo game, so it was good preparation for us.
“That said, we have hard work ahead before the World Cup. We had several opportunities to score tries which we didn’t convert, so we’ll zoom in on that in Corsica and hopefully we can improve on that before our opening match.”
The Boks will open their Rugby World Cup clash against Scotland in Marseille on Sunday 10 September.
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