Sports

OPINION - Why This Rugby Championship Matters MOST for the All Blacks

New Zealand's mission is brutally simple - dethrone South Africa.

Here we go, folks -Rugby Championship time again, and 2025 feels like the most anticipated edition in years. For Kiwi rugby fans, those two All Blacks vs Springboks tests are the main event - the heavyweights, toe-to-toe.

But Argentina and Australia? They’re no undercard. Both are hungry, both have plenty to prove, and both are more than capable of bloodying noses.

The Springboks, world number one, have the most to lose. They’ve muscled and mauled their way to the top of world rugby, but winning consistently in New Zealand has always been their stumbling block. Forget the line that “they only care about World Cups” - right now, their aura will be defined by Eden Park and Wellington. Lose both and the pecking order changes. Win, and they’re almost untouchable.

For the All Blacks, the mission is brutally simple: dethrone them. Home advantage is all we can ask for - but are we actually better than last year? Have we learned from losing twice to them on their turf?

Coach Scott Robertson’s talked a lot about building depth for the future, but the present matters too. Another loss would make it five in a row - a first in the professional era. Since 2019, we’ve lost 16 tests and drawn twice, one of the worst five-year stretches in our history.

Right now, the Boks own us. Four straight wins, the longest streak since 1949. We’ve been here before - 0-3 to them in 2009, 0-3 to the Wallabies in 1998 - but not like this. In the pro game, it’s unprecedented. And it hurts.

We simply can’t afford two more defeats to the Boks. This is about reasserting ourselves as the best. It’s not a burden - it’s the ultimate challenge. And the buzz if we pull it off? Massive.

And it’s not just South Africa in the way. Los Pumas have beaten us three times since COVID - that first ever win in Sydney in 2020, another in Christchurch in 2022, and the 38-30 shocker in Wellington last year. They beat all three opponents in last year’s TRC. They’ve earned respect. Two wins in Argentina this year would be a huge boost for confidence, after a steady but unspectacular series against France.

Australia? Don’t laugh. After two encouraging outings against the Lions, they’ve got belief. Real belief. Early wins and they’re right in the hunt. A Wallabies side with momentum can be a dangerous beast - history tells us that.

This year’s comp is a great unknown. Eight weeks of high stakes, big moments, and potential history in the making. Nervous? Absolutely. Excited? Double-plus on that. Confident? Not entirely - but I believe we can win it, beat all three, and remind the rugby world we’re still dangerous.

It starts Sunday morning in Córdoba. We need to win - and win well - to send a message: the All Blacks are still here, still lethal, and still very much in the fight for number one.

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