OPINION: Are the Boks finally the favourites going into an All Blacks Test?

Ever since South Africa’s return to international sport in 1992, the Springboks have been the underdogs in their clashes with the All Blacks.

Not even the World Cup win in 1995 could change that, and rightly so, as the men from New Zealand were simply at another level, playing rugby from another planet, as some liked to say.

Of course, over the years, the Boks won the occasional Test between the teams … I think of that win in 1995 at Ellis Park, the 13-3 victory in Wellington in 1998, the 24-23 Kings Park thriller (also in 1998), the high-scoring 46-40 Ellis Park match in 2000, the 30-28 win in Dunedin in 2008, the 35-7 victory at Twickenham prior to the World Cup last year and, of course, the 12-11 World Cup final win in France.

But a look back at the history of the 106 Tests between rugby’s greatest rivals shows the All Blacks have enjoyed superiority, for the most part, over the Boks. But, it seems to me, this is not the case anymore.

It is actually quite astonishing how close the results between the teams in general have been in recent years, with a few points separating the winners and losers, but it now seems the Springboks have, finally, taken over the favourites tag from the All Blacks – whether the coaches and players, and fans, are prepared to admit it or not.

Boks are now the hunted

Maybe I’m wrong, but I sense the All Blacks have over the last few years, maybe because the Boks have won two World Cups in 2019 and 2023, lost some of their aura. They don’t seem as invincible and tough to face as they once did, and while in the past Bok fans hoped to beat the All Blacks, there now seems to be an expectation to beat the All Blacks.

I suppose that’s what happens when you win two World Cups in a row, and register a record winning score against your biggest rivals (at Twickenham last year) and a few weeks later beat that team again to lift the World Cup.

The thing is, as back-to-back world champions and world rugby trend-setters, the Boks are no longer the team doing the hunting; they are now the hunted, and the All Blacks are out for revenge after the results between them last year.

These two great teams always seem to live up to the hype and this weekend’s Rugby Championship match at Ellis Park is sure to deliver once again.