The second instalment of 'Rugby's Greatest Rivalry' sees South Africa host New Zealand in Cape Town on Saturday, live on Sky Sports, with Springbok hopes already at the make-or-break stage and the All Blacks presented with a historic opportunity... The All Blacks had better brace themselves. South Africa do not take too kindly to losing at home, let alone in the manner in which their challenge unravelled in last week's 33-16 loss at Ellis Park.
The Springboks will undoubtedly come back harder in Cape Town, with a response essential if they are to keep their hopes of winning this four-Test series alive. A draw can still be salvaged if they lose again, but for an all-conquering South Africa side with a taste for success, nothing but victory will surely do. The reigning back-to-back world champions and Rugby Championship holders have lost just one home Test series in the last 30 years.
With another defeat moving them a step closer to an unwanted piece of history, a swift response is required. A phenomenon seen across sport is the paradigm of the chaser versus the chased. For seven years, South Africa have been the dominant force in world rugby, as their successive World Cup titles attest.
They have been the benchmark, the standard that other nations have sought to emulate. That daunting task is perhaps only dwarfed by the one South Africa have successfully wrestled with: staying ahead of the curve and constantly evolving while remaining one step ahead of their rivals. It is a challenge New Zealand now face as Dave Rennie is tasked with cementing the All Blacks' position as the world's No 1-ranked side.
With the pressure on South Africa to respond, New Zealand can play with a freedom not afforded to the Springboks. But being the hunter is one thing. Remaining the hunted is another.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player Standalone victories against South Africa in South Africa may not have been as rare as, say, victories over New Zealand at Eden Park, but successive Test victories over the Springboks certainly are. They have been non-existent in the Rassie Erasmus era. In fact, you have to go back to the 2015 Rugby Championship, when South Africa lost to New Zealand and Argentina, for the last time the Springboks suffered successive home Test defeats.
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