When Rassie Erasmus arrived in Wellington for his first major test as the newly appointed coach of the Springboks in 2018, there was no expectation his side would be even be competitive against their old rivals.
A loss to Wales and a 2-1 series win over England preceded that year’s Rugby Championship, but the Boks quickly slipped to defeats at the hands of Australia and Argentina within the opening three rounds of the southern hemisphere tournament, leaving Erasmus’ early record reading three wins from seven.
The Springboks arrived in New Zealand’s capital with the world expecting similar treatment to that which saw them lose 57-10 to the same opposition in Durban in 2016, and a 57-0 humiliation that took place in Albany a year later to leave their legacy in tatters. The global feeling was that a once proud giant of the game had been felled and would not be getting up.
And yet that 2018 Springboks team was quietly confident within camp. Since Erasmus’ appointment earlier that year, he had earmarked the Wellington Test as the one that was most important to his side’s ambitions of reclaiming their place at the top table.
"That was Rassie's motto from the start; he said if we can beat New Zealand in New Zealand people will give us a chance at the World Cup and we'll get confidence from it,” Pieter-Steph du Toit told Sky Sports later that year.
South Africa came flying out the traps from the outset in that game; their rush defence suffocating a colossal All Blacks side boasting some of their all-time greats in Ben Smith, Aaron Smith and Kieran Read, as well as some of those running out in the same fixture seven years later; Ardie Savea and the three Barrett brothers.
Two of the Barrett brothers, Beauden and Jordie, linked up for the All Blacks’ first try in 2018, while Ben Smith released namesake Aaron down the right for the second to give New Zealand fans belief that their dominance of their old rivals would be continuing.
But the Boks more than stayed in the fight to eventually wrestle back the initiative for a 24-17 half-time lead which sparked belief of their own.
Then came Cheslin Kolbe. Coming off the bench in only his second ever Test appearance following his debut in Australia the week before, the winger watched closely as Anton Lienert-Brown pumped a dummy pass before throwing the ball to his left after he saw Kolbe feign that he was biting in.
The ploy worked: Kolbe plucked the ball from the air and raced over for his first Test try which gave the Boks enough of a cushion to see out a victory that few outside the team had seen coming.
The win changed the trajectory of the Springboks, who would go on to win the next two World Cups thanks to Erasmus and his prediction that a win over the all-conquering All Blacks in Wellington would restore faith inside as well as outside the camp.
As Siya Kolisi said after that 2018 win: “We wanted to look each other in the eye and said we did the best that we could against the best team in the world."
Seven years later, there was a sense of familiarity in South Africa arriving in Wellington with the chatter of their critics to welcome them. Not like last time, though, where the talk was that they were finished as a nation. This time the whispers were that the team that drew them out of the mire was now too old to continue.
When the All Blacks, victors when the two teams met at Eden Park the week before, took an early lead on Saturday, those whispers gathered pace.
Then came Cheslin Kolbe. This time it was Billy Proctor who looked to pass to his left as Kolbe repeated his trick; feigning a move to tackle before stepping back and sticking his arm out to intercept the ball and sprint free for a try that levelled things up. The tries, and the way he set his opponents up, were identical.
Kolbe would then be the first to score in the second half this weekend as the Springboks ran riot to win 43-10, thereby condemning the All Blacks to their heaviest ever Test defeat in a long and storied history. Both victories were built on a classic Springboks mentality; a ferocious rush defence which suffocated the hosts and their free-flowing instincts.
For Erasmus, the victories seven years apart must have been equally as sweet as each other. In 2018 there was practically no pressure on him, while in 2025 there was talk his influence was waning, that the team was no longer responding to his methods.
After last week’s loss in Auckland, Eramus named his side for Wellington on Monday, a ludicrously early ploy even by his own standards. Seven changes were made, with some of his most loyal servants in Eben Etzebeth, Handre Pollard and Jesse Kriel dropped from the matchday squad.
It should be said that Erasmus is known for communicating his starting teams well ahead of games to his own squad. It could be that the 23 selected were always going to be selected in a decision made weeks ago. Or maybe there was something else at play.
"We all know a lot of players didn’t perform well, and plenty of coaches, myself included, didn’t coach well last week," Erasmus said in the build-up this week.
"One positive was how the game ended. The guys who came on brought energy and fight."
Perhaps Erasmus didn’t like what he saw from his stalwarts and gave them a reminder that there are plenty of youngsters who are desperate for their jerseys. Perhaps this team and their frantic press-defence tactics were always on the cards. Maybe it was a late masterstroke from the man who keeps finding ways to bring out more from his players.
Regardless, Saturday's victory shows that the Boks are still buying into Erasmus’ master plan to become the first nation to win three consecutive World Cup titles, and that while the All Blacks seem to grow an extra inch at Eden Park, the Springboks always appear to do the same when their backs are against the wall in Wellington.