After a pulsating first encounter against the All Blacks, the Springboks have the opportunity on Saturday to make history.
Since 1992, the Boks have never been able to string four, consecutive victories together against the Old Enemy. Indeed, you have to travel back to 1937 when South Africa started a six-match winning streak against the All Blacks, which would only be snapped on July 14, 1956.
That run of matches started with the Boks, captained by Philip Nel, for a Tour of New Zealand which saw the South Africans win a three-match Test series 2-1.
With the Second World War disrupting the rivalry, the next shot the two nations took at each other was 12 years later when the All Blacks toured South Africa, and lost the Test series 4-0.
It would take another seven years before New Zealand would taste victory against the men in Green and Gold, when they won the first Test 10-6 of SA’s Tour of New Zealand on July 14, 1956.
That was truly the last great run of the Boks against the All Blacks, as the Kiwis have dominated the tie since readmission in the 90s.
To put it into perspective, before South Africa was banned from international sport and the final Test against the two nations played in 1981 at Eden Park, in 37 matches, the Boks won 20 and drew a further two.
In the following 70 matches, however, the All Blacks won 66% of all encounters against the Boks, including a painful, unbeaten eight-match run from 2001 to 2004.
The 2010s were pretty grim too, with New Zealand’s supremacy unmatched, scoring 20 victories and one draw from 28 matches.
Beat them on Saturday, and this Bok team – led by Siya Kolisi – will be the most successful unit to face the Kiwis in nearly 70 years.
Beat the All Blacks at Cape Town Stadium, and the Boks will in all likelihood also add a fifth Rugby Championship to their trophy cabinet, too, and – while they are at it – reclaim the Freedom Cup (the trophy between the two countries) for the first time since 2009.
Indeed, Saturday’s game could be one for the record books.
Cape Times