The All Blacks face a must-win match to keep their Rugby Championship hopes alive in Cape Town on Sunday – but also need a victory to avoid an unwanted record of suffering a fourth straight defeat to the Springboks.
The All Blacks haven’t lost four in a row to their great rivals since 1949, when the Springboks won the test series 4-0. That was part of a six-test losing streak after the Boks won the last two matches of the 1937 series.
Sunday’s 27-31 defeat at Ellis Park was the All Blacks’ third in 12 months against South Africa, including the warm-up test thrashing at Twickenham and the Rugby World Cup final.
The last time New Zealand lost three straight to the Springboks was in 2009 after Tri Nations defeats in Bloemfontein and Durban were followed by a 32-29 loss in Hamilton.
The All Blacks will play at Cape Town Stadium for the first time, a venue that was used for the 2010 Fifa World Cup. In their 11 previous visits to Cape Town, dating back to the 1928 tour, they have played at Newlands Stadium where New Zealand has an impressive 7-3 record against South Africa. They also thrashed England in the 1995 World Cup semifinal at Newlands.
