Scott Robertson flummoxed as All Blacks tumble to record defeat against Springboks

Sunday, 14 September 2025

On arguably the darkest day in All Blacks history, coach Scott Robertson was left fumbling for answers he simply did not have.

Robertson’s All Blacks turned from heroes to zeros at Sky Stadium in Wellington on Saturday night when, just seven days after their statement, streak-extending 24-17 victory over South Africa at Eden Park, they were thrashed 43-10 by a rampant Springboks side, Rassie Erasmus’ back-to-back world champions running in six tries to one, including five unanswered in a second half they, remarkably, won 36-0.

It was a record defeat for the All Blacks home or away, eclipsing their 35-7 humbling at the hands of the same South Africans at Twickenham prior to the 2023 World Cup. It also turned to dust their previous heaviest loss on New Zealand soil, 20-5 to Australia at Athletic Park in 1964.

The defeat also leaves the Rugby Championship wide open heading into the final two rounds, with all four sides on 2-2 records. The Wallabies (11pts), pipped 28-26 by Argentina in Sydney earlier in the day, lead by a point over the Boks and All Blacks, with Argentina a further point back of them.

The All Blacks had actually led the contest 10-7 at halftime on Saturday night in the capital, despite a first half spent mostly pinned in their own territory, and were still in the contest at the 60-minute mark when they trailed 17-10. The Boks, who retained the Freedom Cup with their victory, ran in four tries in a rampant final quarter.

“South Africa played incredibly well and took their opportunities,” noted a shell-shocked Robertson post-game in Wellington. “We’ll take it on the chin. They were clearly better in that second half. It was a game of two halves – it could have been different, Cheslin Kolbe gambles on a pass and 14-0 is 7-all. It felt like at halftime coming in we’d done enough. We’d left a few opportunities out there.

“Then in the second half they won the aerial battle, won the scraps, there were too many penalties around the set piece, we lost a couple of really big moments there and the game got away.”

Robertson is almost certainly being far too generous to his side who were outplayed in every facet of the game by a Boks outfit that won the battle up front, in the air and, most certainly, on the ground. The visitors ran for 622 metres to just 260 by the New Zealanders, and their average carry of 5.7 metres was over double the All Blacks’ 2.7.

The All Blacks also fell off 46 tackles on a brilliant night for Erasmus’ new-generation backline, headed by standout performances from two-try Cheslin Kolbe, midfield marvel Damian Willemse and hulking wing Ethan Hooker. And by game end their lineout had disintegrated into total dysfunction, with the scrum also in backtrack mode throughout.

“You just get extremely disappointed because you put so much work into the team – culturally you set yourselves up around being able to dig and show grit, and that happens,” added Robertson. “We couldn’t buy anything. We just couldn’t get anything happening and they just went on a tear.

“There were some great efforts out there by us and a great performance by them. We have to look at it in more detail before we get deep, but of course something like that is going to hurt you.”

Almost every All Blacks fan in the cold, hard light of Sunday will have trouble accepting Robertson talking about“great efforts” by his players. It was a night when just about everyone wearing black fell a long way short of the acceptable standard. But they would heartily agree with his assessment that it had been a “great performance” by the regenerated Boks.

Robertson clung throughout a subdued post-game media conference to the assertion that South Africa’s superiority in the aerial battle had been the key to the record defeat.

“South Africa have probably been criticised for their aerial game and their kicking over the years, but they put so much value and so much time into that and the way they play they get return on it,” noted the All Blacks coach.

“They’re so good at it. We did a lot of preparation on it, but they just owned that area and put so much pressure on us. So well done to them – they know their DNA.”

Asked if his team had failed to get back to the mental level they needed to after their Eden Park victory, Robertson added: “For 50-odd minutes we did … we created a lot, we were there, we could have been 14-0 up. A lot of moments went their way. The aerial battle just changed everything. We want to own what we need to get better at, keep the courage to keep playing and keep tight.”

And the response?

“Firstly own it. Look at what areas we need to own, go get some responsibility and find out what we need to fix. We’re not going to be chasing too many things. We’ve got to be clear about what matters most to us and then get a plan and look forward to this next game.”

The All Blacks resume against the Wallabies at Eden Park on September 27, before rounding out the competition against the same team in Perth a week later.