Jeff Wilson is concerned that the All Blacks are not developing under the guidance of Scott Robertson following their latest disappointment against South Africa.

New Zealand succumbed to their second successive loss as they went down 18-12 to Rassie Erasmus’ men in Cape Town.

Although they were once again competitive, following on from their narrow 31-27 reversal in Johannesburg, ultimately the hosts did enough to claim the victory.

No title this year

It was their third defeat in the 2024 Rugby Championship, leaving their title dreams in tatters and increasing the pressure on new boss Robertson.

The All Blacks held a 100 per cent record after the July series as they overcame England (twice) and Fiji, but since then they have won just once in four matches.

After the loss at Ellis Park, Wilson expected a response but it never came as the Springboks kept the visitors tryless.

“They were better than us again for 80 minutes. I got that wrong, I thought that the All Blacks would put together a performance because we’ve found a way when we’ve had our backs against the wall, particularly against the Springboks,” he said on The Breakdown.

“We did a lot of really good things but ultimately the game is won and lost in the last 20 minutes against the Springboks so often.

“I have a lot of questions, and I don’t have a lot of answers. At the moment, the All Blacks themselves will have some really difficult conversations after this game, after what happened a week ago, and in preparation for the Wallabies in the Bledisloe Cup.”

Robertson made a few alterations for the match in Cape Town but it did not pay dividends as the Springboks went four from four in the Rugby Championship.

“I believed we would win. I thought we would respond, I thought we had the game, I thought we had the players, I thought the leadership was there,” Wilson added.

“If you look at the form and the way that our forward pack responded for large parts of that game, I honestly believed the All Blacks would win that game.

“Now I have questions because we haven’t adapted, we haven’t got better week to week. They’ve made some adjustments in terms of selection and that didn’t work for this Test match.”

Debate settled

One more victory for the Springboks will guarantee the Rugby Championship title, which will be their first since 2019.

The All Blacks have dominated this competition since its inception in 2012, but South Africa have proved to be far too strong this year.

New Zealand centurion Mils Muliaina believes that it has very much settled the debate over which team is the best after the Boks held onto their number one ranking.

“They are [better than the All Blacks]. They’re the world champions, they’ve now taken the Freedom Cup back that hasn’t been won since 2009. And all going well they should win the Rugby Championship,” Muliaina said.

READ MORE :

Sir John Kirwan hails the Springboks who ‘remind’ him of the 2015 All Blacks

All Blacks great Sir John Kirwan has likened the current Springboks to the double World Cup-winning New Zealand teams and lays down a marker for Scott Robertson’s men.

The Springboks claimed back-to-back wins over the All Blacks and extended their winning streak to four matches against their old rival.

Rassie Erasmus’ men came from behind at Ellis Park overturning a ten-point deficit to defeat New Zealand 31-27 in round three of the Rugby Championship before leaving it late again in Cape Town with a Malcolm Marx trying sealing an 18-12 victory.

Sir John Kirwan congratulates the Springboks

Kirwan is renowned for his punditry work on Sky Sport NZ’s Breakdown show, however, the legendary winger has missed the last two shows and has taken to social media again to praise the Springboks.

Following the defeat in Johannesburg, he took a dig at the TMO after the controversial try for Bongi Mbonambi but did praise the Boks for ‘knowing how to win’, thoughts that he has echoed once again.

He has also hailed the Springboks ‘Bomb Squad’ and their ability to close out the game despite saying that he would ‘boo at his tv‘ when they were introduced in Johannesburg.

“How good the South Africans, they remind me of our team from 2011 to 2015 where they just know how to win,” Kirwan said in a social media post.

“Guys come on late, do the right thing, make the right decisions. This is a very, very good South African side. Dare I say it the world champions deserved it.

“For the All Blacks, they need to pick themselves up and get on with it. We need to beat Australia two zip.”

The 2011-2015 All Blacks are widely regarded as the greatest Test team of all time as they dominated the international game winning back-to-back World Cup and just about everything in between during that period.

Following the two victories over the All Blacks, Erasmus’ charges are now well-placed to win the Rugby Championship for the first time since 2019 as they face off in back-to-back Tests against Argentina needing two log points to win the title.

As for the All Blacks, they will clash against Australia in back-to-back Test that double us at Bledisloe Cup matches – a trophy New Zealand has held since 2002.