Move FM Australian News

Cape Town – The Springboks are flying high with back-to-back wins in the Rugby Championship, but history suggests that they will be up against it when they take on the All Blacks at Loftus on Saturday.

The Boks stunned the rugby world when they knocked over the world champions in Wellington three weekends ago, and they followed that up with victory over Australia in Port Elizabeth, but South Africa’s record against the ‘old foe’ in Pretoria tells a different story.

The Boks have played the All Blacks at Loftus 5 times since 1970, and 4 times since re-admission.

Their only win against their southern hemisphere rivals at the venue came in that 1970 match when the Boks emerged 17-6 winners.

Since then, the Boks have lost 4 in a row against the All Blacks at the venue in 1996, 1999, 2003 and 2006.

Remarkably, it has been 12 years since the Boks hosted the All Blacks at Loftus.

In that 2006 fixture, under Jake White, they fell to a 45-26 defeat.

In 2003, meanwhile, the Boks were hammered 52-16.

South Africa’s overall record at Loftus makes for much better reading.

Since 1955, the Boks have played 36 Tests in Pretoria, winning 27 and losing 8 for an impressive win percentage of 77.14%.

Kick-off on Saturday is at 17:05.

SA’s record against NZ at Loftus:

2006: SA 26-45 NZ

2003: SA 16-52 NZ

1999: SA 18-34 NZ

1996: SA 26-33 NZ

1970: SA 17-6 NZ