South Africa’s world champion Springboks are closing in on one of rugby’s most revered records as they build towards a defining four-Test tour against New Zealand later this year.
The Springboks have opened the new season with three emphatic victories, extending a remarkable run that now stands at 11 consecutive Test wins. Their last defeat dates back to early September last year, when they lost to the All Blacks in Auckland.
Under director of rugby Rassie Erasmus, South Africa finished the previous year with eight straight wins, and have simply carried that momentum into the current July Test window.
If the Springboks beat Argentina in their next fixture on 8 August – as many observers expect – they will head into a blockbuster four-match series against New Zealand with a chance to move within touching distance of the longest winning run in South African Test history.
Chasing Mallett’s benchmark
The current national record stands at 17 consecutive Test victories, set between 23 August 1997 and 28 November 1998 under head coach Nick Mallett.
That golden period included an unbeaten Tri-Nations campaign in 1998 and successive undefeated November tours of Europe. During that surge the Springboks defeated Australia, New Zealand, France, England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales in a sequence that remains a benchmark for South African rugby.
The run finally ended on 5 December 1998, when England edged South Africa 13–7 at Twickenham.
For Erasmus’s team to threaten that mark, they would almost certainly need to emerge from the upcoming tour against the All Blacks without defeat – a task many analysts consider unlikely in what is often billed as the “greatest rivalry in rugby”.
All Blacks test the ultimate measure
New Zealand remain the standard by which most Test teams are measured and are rarely beaten repeatedly in a single season, let alone across a four-match series.
Although “it’s difficult to see the All Blacks failing to win at least one game during the Greatest Rugby Rivalry tour”, as some commentators have noted, Springbok supporters will feel entitled to dream, given their side’s current form and status as back-to-back world champions.
Surviving that tour undefeated would leave South Africa on the brink of equalling, and potentially surpassing, Mallett’s 17-match landmark in the months that follow.
Global records in sight – but still distant
In the wider context of Tier One international rugby, New Zealand and England jointly hold the record for the longest winning streak, with 18 successive Test victories each.
The All Blacks achieved their run between 15 August 2015 and 22 October 2016, a period that spanned the latter stages of the 2015 Rugby World Cup and their subsequent dominance in the Rugby Championship.
England matched that feat with 18 consecutive wins from 10 October 2015 to 11 March 2017, a sequence that included their own resurgence under Eddie Jones following the 2015 World Cup.
Across all levels of international rugby union, however, the longest winning streak belongs to Cyprus. The Mediterranean nation strung together 24 consecutive Test victories between November 2008 and November 2014, setting a global benchmark that still stands.
Tough run-in after New Zealand
Whatever happens against the All Blacks, the Springboks’ schedule offers little respite.
Following the New Zealand tour, South Africa are due to play the Wallabies in a one-off Test before facing Italy, France and Ireland – three European opponents who have each beaten top-tier nations in recent seasons and will pose varied tactical challenges.
For now, though, attention will focus on whether Erasmus’s side can maintain their momentum long enough to turn a strong run of form into a chapter of history to rival – or even eclipse – the famed Mallett era.
