Ex-Springboks stars’ blunt verdict on All Blacks’ future after Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry series defeat
All Blacks players salute the crowd during the Greatest rivalry series and ex-Springboks flyer Gio Aplon (inset).
Gio Aplon and Rudy Paige believe the All Blacks are on an upward trajectory in the international arena despite losing Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry series against the Springboks.
New Zealand made a fantastic start to the four-Test series when they won the opening fixture at Ellis Park in Johannesburg before South Africa showed why they are the current world champions as they went on to triumph in the next three encounters against their arch-rivals at the DHL Stadium in Cape Town, the FNB Stadium in Soweto and the M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore, USA.
And although that was the first time since 1998 that the men in black suffered three successive defeats, former Springboks flyer Aplon believes what they experienced during the Greatest Rivalry series will stand them in good stead in the future, especially at next year’s Rugby World Cup in Australia.
‘This is probably the best thing that could have happened to them’
“They’re just going to get better,” he said on the Behind the Ruck podcast. “I think this is probably the best thing that could have happened to them. The one Test they’ve won was good.
“Even if they lost 4-0, it would still have been a good test (for them). They’ve been together. They understand the game model and they go back to their families. Now they’re going to reassemble for Australia. This team is going to be really dangerous.
“They’ve got a good coaching staff. They’ve played the number one side in the world that for the past, how many years are there? Since 2019 haven’t conceded in six games, more than seven points. That’s who you come up against.
“Guys who have 100 caps or close to 100 caps. Guys who’s been around the block, who’s won two World Cups. You don’t come here and pick them off.
“But this team that they have now and will keep together until ’27. I think for the All Blacks, ’27 will be maybe one punch and see who’s going to punch back. That quarter-final, semi-final time will be tight for them.
“But post this World Cup, they are going to be a massive threat. The age range is good. (The likes of) Fabian Holland, Sam Darry, Josh Lord, they’ve got proper rugby players there.”
Former Springboks scrum-half Paige, who is the host of the podcast alongside another ex-Boks backline player Juan de Jongh, agreed with Aplon and feels that although All Blacks fans will be unhappy after they lost the series against the Boks, he is optimistic about their future.
“I think probably if you’re a New Zealand fan and the Kiwi public, they might sit and be a bit hard on the team. Despondent. We have to do the show justice where we are rugby podcast first,” he said.
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“I thought there was some outstanding stuff from the All Blacks. There were players that (will) come out of this tour that will only be better for the future. Fabian Holland has impressed me a hell of a lot.
“A big bodied, four or five locks that they haven’t probably had for a very long time. I look at Peter Lakai, his athleticism in the wider channels, how dangerous he is. Wallace Sititi, I’ve been a fan since he won Breakthrough Player of the Year.
‘It wasn’t all doom and gloom’
“And having Richie (Mo’unga) and Ruben Love in a healthy competition is going to make both players better. So I thought, if I look at the All Blacks and I look what they’ve done in South Africa, I think it wasn’t all doom and gloom and the way they might feel after the game. Jordie Barrett, world-class. Outstanding. Simply outstanding.
“Ardie Savea, before going down with injury, was one of the players of the tour, if we’re honest with each other, the way he kept his team in the fight, the moments he had within those test matches.
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“And look, when it comes to what I looked at the All Blacks, and the big difference between the Springboks and the All Blacks for me is, the moments obviously one of them, but the other thing that for me has been an absolute standout just has to be the fact that they got a lot of players that has experienced this for the first time.
“Siya (Kolisi) has won a British and Irish Lions (series), two Rugby World Cups, we’re the defending rugby champions. So Siya has seen everything. Eben (Etzebeth) has seen everything.
“Fabian Holland has seen Ellis Park for the first time this year. Wallace Sititi has seen Ellis Park for the first time.
“So, that has been the big difference for me. Our group and our coaching staff have had the nine years together. They’ve had the three months.
“So, they will be better going into the future. And then unfortunately, the last three Test matches for them, obviously for us, we’re happy. We won that moment where the game was up for grabs.”