Victor Matfield: Why the Springboks still struggle for consistency compared to All Blacks and Ireland
Springboks team in a huddle in 2025 and legendary second-row Victor Matfield.
Victor Matfield insists that the Springboks remain a team that struggles to deal with the favourites tag despite winning back-to-back Rugby World Cup titles.
South Africa are the most successful nation at the global tournament having lifted the trophy on four occasions overall, one more than their arch rivals, New Zealand.
However, it is the All Blacks who have tended to dominate in between World Cups and Matfield has offered a theory as to why that is.
Process-driven Ireland and All Blacks
“There are probably two teams in the world that can perform consistently well without that emotional high before a game and that’s New Zealand and Ireland,” he said on the Rivals podcast.
“They focus on the process, they go out and they do whatever they do.
“With the South African teams I played with – the best teams I played in – we always tried to take that emotion out, to have that consistency, but unfortunately [it didn’t work].
“That’s why most of the time when we are the favourites we don’t perform up to that level. When we’re the underdogs and no one gives us a chance, that’s when South Africans stand up because they then bring that emotion.”
Matfield believes age can be a factor and that experience can help the Boks, but ultimately the former second-row insists the natural South African psyche makes it difficult to find consistency.
“It’s a very difficult thing. You want to take that emotion out because you want to focus on what you need to do,” he said.
“The older you get and if you’ve got an older team, you probably can do that, but you need that emotion.
“When you really get people to run onto that field and give them something to play for, somehow in rugby that just gives you that extra five or 10 per cent.
“For South Africa in the big games, we probably need that, whereas New Zealand and Ireland somehow can get away with just going, ‘let’s go out, let’s do whatever we need to do’.”
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All Blacks legend shocked
The Springboks legend was once again joined on the podcast by former All Blacks star Sir John Kirwan, who was stunned by Matfield’s comments.
“How can you expect me to believe that when you’ve won the biggest competition in the world? That is k*k man, I just can’t believe that,” Kirwan said.
“In the biggest tournament in the world, you’ve won it more than everyone else, which is annoying the s*** out of the rest of of the world.
“You must be getting something right.”
Matfield duly explained why winning the World Cup is perhaps easier for the Boks than actually dominating in the years between those tournaments.
“In a World Cup, you actually just need to win probably three big games, so you need to be able to lift yourself for that,” he said.
“I’ve said it in the past, in the good old days of Super Rugby, it was definitely harder to win than a World Cup because you had to perform 12 weeks consistently.
“In the past you couldn’t lose a pool game and win the World Cup. [But] in the last two World Cups they lost in the pool stages and then won a big semi-final and won a final.
“Most of the time it’s probably just three big games you need to get yourself up for.”
Springboks mindset change under Rassie
Matfield reckons head coach Rassie Erasmus is attempting to change that mindset, as evidenced by South Africa’s excellent 2024, but that they still much prefer being the underdogs.
“If you look Ireland, look at New Zealand, if they’re the favourite going into a game, and they’re much better than the other team, they put 50 or 60 points on them,” he added.
“With South Africa, Rassie is kind of getting there with this team, but when we were favourites, all of a sudden you struggle, you scrap away to win five, six or seven points.
“If New Zealand doesn’t have pressure on them, they get in front quickly and it’s game over. It just feels for me, the moment there’s freedom for New Zealand and Ireland, they’re at their best.
“As South Africans, when we play them, we try and put that pressure on them the whole time so they don’t get that freedom.”
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