Before the opening round of the Rugby Championship, the Springboks would have been widely expected to secure a bonus-point victory over the Wallabies at Ellis Park to start their title defence with momentum and confidence.
Instead, the Springboks are reeling from a shock defeat, which also saw them fail to even collect a losing bonus-point. By contrast, the All Blacks secured a full five log points with a big win in Argentina.
The Springboks now simply have to bounce back in their ‘rematch’ against Australia this weekend, but even if they can achieve this, they will then need to navigate extremely challenging fixtures against arch-rivals New Zealand.
Besides the improvements the All Blacks have made over the last year, they will also be excited by the prospect of facing the Springboks at their home fortresses in Auckland and Wellington.
From there, the Springboks will welcome Argentina to Durban before finishing the tournament against the same opposition in London, where this neutral venue could add an air of unpredictability to proceedings.
All in all, it looks set to be extremely difficult for the Springboks to get their Rugby Championship campaign back on track, with even one more defeat almost certain to bring an end to any hope of a title defence.
“We still want to win the Rugby Championship,” prop Ox Nche insisted. “Next weekend is a must-win Test (against Australia in Cape Town), and we have to get as many points as we can.”
Rugby Championship log after shock Springbok loss
REMINDER OF THE REMAINING SCHEDULE FOR 2025:
- 23 August: vs Australia, Cape Town. Kick off: 17:10.
- 6 September: vs New Zealand, Auckland. Kick off: 09:05.
- 13 September: vs New Zealand, Wellington. Kick off: 09:05.
- 27 September: vs Argentina, Kings Park, Durban. Kick off: 17:10.
- 4 October: vs Argentina, London. Kick off: 15:00.
- 1 November: vs Japan, Brighton. Kick off: TBD.
- 8 November: vs France, Paris. Kick off: 22:10.
- 15 November: vs Italy, Turin. Kick off: 14:40
- 22 November: vs Ireland, Dublin. Kick off: 19:40.
- 29 November: vs Wales, Cardiff. Kick off: 17:10.
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