Sonny Bill Williams: All Blacks went from ‘struggling to catastrophic’ as Springboks got ‘all the 50/50s’
All Blacks winger Will Jordan in action against the Springboks and an inset of ex-midfielder Sonny Bill Williams.
Former All Blacks centre Sonny Bill Williams has rued the performance of Scott Robertson’s charges in the final quarter of the Test match in Wellington.
The Springboks held a 17-10 lead on the hour mark of the Rugby Championship fixture but completely blew New Zealand off the park in the final 20 minutes with Damian Willemse, Kwagga Smith, RG Snyman and Andre Esterhuizen crossing for late tries as South Africa cruised to a record 43-10 victory.
That marked the heaviest-ever defeat that New Zealand have suffered and saw the side drop from number one in the World Rugby rankings to number three.
50/50s went the Springboks’ way
Speaking on Stan Sport’s Behind Two Posts, Williams said that he believes that all the 50/50s went the Springboks‘ way and once their tails were up, they ruthlessly picked Robertson’s side apart.
He added that it was simply not the All Blacks‘ day, a remark that copped him a bit of flak on social media platform X, formerly Twitter.
“After the game, I tweeted, ‘Sometimes, it’s just not your day’. Oh my gosh, they came for me. ‘How dare you say that?’, that sort of thing,” he said.
“It was a whitewash. With 20 minutes to go, we were still in it, just seven points down; it was crazy, just one of those games where everything doesn’t go your way. All the contestables, all the 50/50s just went the Springboks’ way.
“I don’t know if the guys were just a bit tired after a helter-skelter first 40, but man, I just take my hat off to the Springboks.”
The double Rugby World Cup winner believes that Willemse’s try was the real turning point with the Bok back scathing through the All Blacks’ defence after a brilliant lineout steal from Ruan Nortje.
“The try where the Boks went from 17 to 24, we were numbers up. We pushed up, weren’t jamming, so it was just a bit of miscommunication, but that was a result of the pressure we were under,” he added.
“Because every 50/50 call, bounce of the ball, contestable was going the Boks’ way, and when the big boys get going, it’s just crazy, and then you have these lightning guys on the wing.”
Pressure on Scott Robertson? Sonny Bill Williams’ frank verdict after All Blacks’ heaviest defeat
New Zealanders are overreacting
Williams was joined on the show by former Wallabies back Morgan Turinui, who felt that the fallout after the All Blacks’ defeat was a bit of an overreaction from the New Zealand public after what was really just a poor quarter.
“They had a bad 20 minutes. Don’t throw the baby out the bathwater,” he said.
Williams agreed: “Yes. Exactly. We went from struggling to catastrophic, and it was just the last 20 minutes. The bounce of the ball went the Boks’ way, and they had their tails up.”
Turinui added: “It just shows how outstanding the record of the All Blacks over time has been; the previous record loss at home was 15 points to the Wallabies in 1964 – 15 points was their biggest loss at home!
“We haven’t spoken enough about just how good the Springboks were because we are focusing on the Wallabies playing the All Blacks next. But the Boks showed that with some of the players where there were question marks around – those are long gone.
“The way Rassie manipulates and manages the turnover of the squad, they had players coming in and out. This was a big box ticked for Rassie to say, ‘Yup, we are on the right track with what’s coming in 2027.'”
Looking ahead to the two Bledisloe Cup matches between the All Blacks and Wallabies, Williams warned of a backlash from Robertson’s charges after the defeat.
Which Turinui said has been a theme for New Zealand so far this Rugby Championship.
“It feels exactly like two weeks ago, losing to Argentina in Argentina, the pile-on from people around the team, which seeps in, and of course, the high expectation that the team has and then the reaction at Eden Park. It looks exactly the same.”
READ MORE: Justin Marshall: Springboks ‘ambushed’ the All Blacks as Scott Robertson’s side left shocked
