The Springboks cured their Eden Park hangover in the perfect way, securing a rampant 43-10 win over the All Blacks in Wellington. 

Down 10-7 at the break, Rassie Erasmus’ side scored 36 unanswered points in the second 40 to not only keep their Rugby Championship title defence alive, but also retain the Freedom Cup. It also handed New Zealand their biggest-ever Test defeat, beating out their previous 28-point win at Twickenham before the 2023 World Cup in the process.

This victory now sees the Boks climb into second place in the Rugby Championship table heading into the final two Tests of the tournament, where they will face Argentina.

With so much on the line tonight, a fast start was always expected, and it certainly came too.

An Aphelele Fassi linebreak in the very first attack of the game marched the Springboks down to within touching distance of the All Blacks’ line, and while it came to a grinding halt after another lineout mishap, the tone was set.

The opening stanza was all South Africa, but they couldn’t quite get over the line. Cheslin Kolbe was only denied a try by a simply brilliant cover tackle by Jordie Barrett, while RG Snyman – introduced early off the bench – had his powerful effort chalked off for a knock-on in the build-up.

Missing chances like that is always going to come back and haunt you, particularly in Tests like this, and soon after the All Blacks took the lead through debutant Leroy Carter.

He also set the wheels in motion to begin with, too, after a tidy linebreak, but it was his side’s dazzling ball handling that saw him waltz over unopposed in the corner.

Scott Robertson’s side were quickly putting themselves in position to go 14-0 up, too, with yet another piece of delicious attack threatening to end in a try, but a clever read from Kolbe saw him pinch the ball and canter home to pull his side level.

While there were only three more points added to the scoreline, thanks to the boot of Damian McKenzie, that didn’t reflect the overall outlook of the game, to be honest. It deserved more.

You just knew it was going to get more.

It did get more.

A rampaging Siya Kolisi burst through the All Blacks line to get the Boks into striking distance, and this time they took it as Kolbe grabbed his second of the night. Seven quickly became 10, too, as Manie Libbok slotted a penalty to go alongside his conversion.

Now behind for the first time in the contest, the All Blacks became the hunters. Breaks from both Will Jordan and Billy Proctor threatened to bring them into scoring areas, but it was to no avail.

To rub salt into the wounds, the Boks extended their lead with two quick-fire tries. The first came through Damian Wilemse, who danced around the defence to dot down.

Kwagga Smith was on hand for the second, but it was Ethan Hooker who came out of it with a glowing reference. The Sharks back, who only debuted off the bench last weekend, sliced through the All Blacks defence like a hot knife through butter, beating three defenders to take the Boks deep into enemy territory.

It got better from there, too, with that counter-attack creating space in the backfield. Reading the situation superbly, Libbok fired out a cross-field kick to Pieter-Steph du Toit, who connected with his back-row colleague to send him over the whitewash.

Erasmus’ side were in rampant touch at this point, and they made it count with another two scores for good measure. Snyman, who had a score chalked off earlier in the day, finally got himself on the scoreboard after a marauding run. His effort was swiftly followed up by Andre Esterhuizen, who followed suit with a barnstorming carry to power his way over the line.

The teams

All Blacks: 15 Damian McKenzie, 14 Will Jordan, 13 Billy Proctor, 12 Jordie Barrett, 11 Leroy Carter, 10 Beauden Barrett, 9 Noah Hotham, 8 Wallace Sititi, 7 Ardie Savea, 6 Simon Parker, 5 Tupou Vaa’i, 4 Scott Barrett (c), 3 Tyrel Lomax, 2 Samisoni Taukei’aho, 1 Ethan de Groot
Replacements: 16 Brodie McAlister, 17 Tamaiti Williams, 18 Fletcher Newell, 19 Fabian Holland, 20 Du’Plessis Kirifi, 21 Finlay Christie, 22 Quinn Tupaea, 23 Ruben Love

Springboks: 15 Aphelele Fassi, 14 Cheslin Kolbe, 13 Canan Moodie, 12 Damian Willemse, 11 Ethan Hooker, 10 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, 9 Cobus Reinach, 8 Jasper Wiese, 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 6 Siya Kolisi (c), 5 Ruan Nortje, 4 Lood de Jager, 3 Thomas du Toit, 2 Malcolm Marx, 1 Ox Nche
Replacements: 16 Marnus van der Merwe, 17 Jan-Hendrik Wessels, 18 Wilco Louw, 19 RG Snyman, 20 Kwagga Smith, 21 Grant Williams, 22 Manie Libbok, 23 Andre Esterhuizen

Referee: Nika Amashukeli (GRU)
Assistant referees: Angus Gardner (RA), Jordan Way (RA)
TMO: Eric Gauzins (FFR)
FPRO: Brett Cronan (RA)