Two narrow losses in 2024 deny Springboks a major record
Today at 08:03 AM
This past weekend saw the final full round of international November fixtures, and that saw the Springboks claim a resounding – and expected – win over Wales to finish their season with 11 victories from 13.
Of course, it is a set of results that should be celebrated proudly, but it can’t be forgotten how close the Springboks came to an undefeated season.
South Africa were well set for victory against Ireland in Durban back in July, and it was only a drop goal from the visitors with the last play of the game that ultimately saw South Africa succumb to a 25-24 loss.
Their only other defeat of the year came in Argentina, when a largely ‘second-string’ Springbok side suffered a shock one-point defeat when a regulation missed goal kick from Manie Libbok saw them just miss out on snatching a win.
Considering that the Springboks finished last year with four successive wins at the World Cup, it’s not beyond the realm of possibility that South Africa could have currently been on a 17-match winning streak.
Factor in the likelihood that the Springboks will beat Italy in two Tests, and Georgia in a one-off game, to start the 2025 Test season, and that could have seen the team reach a 20-game winning run (if not for the two narrow losses this year).
The most consecutive wins for any Tier 1 nation is 18, achieved by both New Zealand (Aug 2015 to Nov 2016) and England (Oct 2015 to Mar 2017), while a little-known fact is that Cyprus actually hold the official record with a 24 Test winning run (Nov 2008 to Nov 2014).
It is the nature of the game that the Springboks can’t always come out on the winning side in close games (and they certainly enjoyed this ‘fortune’ when it mattered most during the World Cup knockout games), but their two defeats this year have prevented them from being incredibly close to a remarkable win record.
Nevertheless, the Springboks have finished the year at the top of the world rugby rankings, a full two points clear of Ireland, who are just ahead of New Zealand.
LATEST WORLD RUGBY RANKINGS AT THE END OF THE WEEKEND AS THE SPRINGBOKS LEAD THE WAY
| RANK | COUNTRY | POINTS |
| 1 | South Africa | 92.78 |
| 2 | Ireland | 90.78 |
| 3 | New Zealand | 90.36 |
| 4 | France | 88.51 |
| 5 | Argentina | 84.97 |
| 6 | Scotland | 83.34 |
| 7 | England | 82.31 |
| 8 | Australia | 82.17 |
| 9 | Fiji | 80.07 |
| 10 | Italy | 78.64 |
| 11 | Wales | 74.01 |
| 12 | Georgia | 73.85 |
| 13 | Japan | 72.95 |
| 14 | Samoa | 72.68 |
| 15 | USA | 68.90 |
| 16 | Portugal | 68.82 |
| 17 | Spain | 67.10 |
| 18 | Uruguay | 65.94 |
| 19 | Tonga | 65.46 |
| 20 | Romania | 64.13 |
WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON ALL THE RESULTS FOR THE BOKS THIS YEAR?
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