Scotty Stevenson: Reaction to Wallaby defeat next week would be different

Tevita Kuridrani of the Wallabies is held by Marcell Coetzee and Duane Vermeulen during The Rugby Championship match between the South African Springboks. Photo / Getty Images

As a team that knows all about the expectations of its fans - and one that goes to considerable lengths to convince us all those expectations drive them to succeed - the All Blacks must be feeling rather bemused this week by the general attitude of the public towards the weekend's loss to the Springboks at Ellis Park. To use the modern parlance, the reaction to that two-point loss on Sunday morning could best be described by that hideously lazy interjection, "meh".

Quite what this says about the whole situation is beyond me. Could it be that after a record-equalling undefeated run of 22 tests, All Blacks fans are happy (for once) to let one slide? Could it be that coach Steve Hansen should send former coach Sir Graham Henry a bottle of the good stuff for softening up the public for this last month? It was he who said a loss wouldn't be a bad thing, after all. Could it be that as a nation we've found a new maturity in our response to sporting defeats? Or could it be that with the Rugby Championship title already locked up, this was a game that had written on it in large letters, "superfluous to requirements"?

I doubt it was the latter. A test against the Springboks always has a little something riding on it. But with the focus now shifting to Brisbane for the final Bledisloe Cup test of the year, perhaps we should ask ourselves if the reaction will be as muted if the All Blacks are tipped up again? Hardly.

The All Blacks have been magnanimous in defeat, though one couldn't help but note the small disclaimer in the post-match press conference by Hansen regarding that final penalty. To paraphrase, he had no problem with the penalty against Liam Messam being awarded, and would have had less problem with the penalty not being awarded. The implication being that but for a 50:50 call, the All Blacks might have won the test match. Fair enough - that's a master coach defending his team. To expect anything less would be admitting a naivety toward sporting rhetoric.

While Hansen's comments reflected (or perhaps set the tone for) the New Zealand fan reaction, the remarks of Springbok captain Jean de Villiers said plenty about the importance of victory to his team, and to his team's fans. While the Kiwis said "meh", the South Africans screamed "Yeah!".

As Herald writer Gregor Paul reminded us this week, the All Blacks and the Springboks are on track for a semifinal meeting at next year's Rugby World Cup. Neither side wants to give the other any ounce of confidence heading into that tournament. The All Blacks' loss gave the South Africans plenty.

As de Villiers remarked: "The whole year we said we had a good enough team to beat them, and I think we showed that tonight. It was a box we didn't have ticked off, and now we've ticked that off."

And they've ticked off a few more as well. While the All Blacks' record under Hansen is incredible, it pays to remember that since November 2012, the Springboks have won 20 of their 24 tests - a record that was never validated by the fans because three of those four losses were to the All Blacks. This was that validation.

Are the All Blacks still the standard-setters in world rugby? Absolutely. But with the world's number two team this close behind, you just know this week's "meh" could quite easily give way to next year's "oh dear".