THE FINAL WHISTLE
MARK KEOHANE: Springboks’ defeat: This was an inferior side being beaten by an exceptional one
There is no Springbok rugby positive to take from getting zero and conceding 57. It’s also not a result simply to be forgotten. A Kiwi mate, a few years ago, told me that the All Blacks and Springboks had long stopped being a rivalry and it was more a case of serious assault to the body and mind of every South African supporter. This mate said the difference between the All Blacks and Boks supporters was that we in SA remembered the one we won and they (Kiwi supporters) remembered the one they lost. He has a point because they’ve only lost one of the last 11 against the Boks, and SA have only won one of the last five at home against the All Blacks. Saturday’s 57-0 is one that both sets of supporters will remember. The Kiwis will remember it for the day that they perhaps buried the amateur-era rivalry that saw the Springboks superior in match-ups. The Springboks, before SA’s return from international rugby isolation in 1992, had won 21 and lost 16 to the All Blacks. Subsequently, the...
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