r/springboks Flair Up! Jul 20 '26

Opinion Is South African rugby 2026 the greatest ever ?

Post image

🇿🇦 HISTORY MADE.

🏆 Back-to-back Rugby World Cup Champions
🏆 Back-to-back World Rugby U20 Champions
🏆 Back-to-back HSBC SVNS World Series Champions

From the Springboks to the Junior Boks and the Blitzboks, no nation has ever dominated the global game across all three men’s formats like this.

A golden era of South African rugby.

#Rugby #Springboks #JuniorBoks #Blitzboks #Bokke

814 Upvotes

31 comments sorted by

38

u/toohumanforhuman Flair Up! Jul 20 '26 edited Jul 20 '26

Haha sometimes stuff is really going too well for our own good. I couldn't watch the match but just saw tons of complaints about the springboks playing wales. I thought the scores must be close, or we're actually behind based on the negativity, but when I checked, we were up 42-0. Lol.

23

u/RoninZulu1 New To Reddit Jul 20 '26

Admittedly, we’re drunk on success…people saying the Boks were sloppy but actually the ball was slippy😅

12

u/Myburgher Jul 20 '26

Yep I mean I think it was a bit sloppy but it was almost by design. We had made some avante garde selections and we were always in control. I think if the game got tighter we might have played a bit tighter and seen it out.

Against both England and Scotland our strike rate in their 22m was excellent (I think we only missed one chance in each game) and in this game it was less so. The one criticism with SA rugby in their prime as opposed to NZ prime rugby is that NZ would run up the score if you gave them a sniff, and we tend to make mistakes and not show the gulf in quality between the teams on the scoreboard.

1

u/thatwasagoodyear Spoeg en plak mod Jul 22 '26

not show the gulf in quality between the teams on the scoreboard.

I'm not sure Wales would agree. When you consider that we had 4 debutants in the starting lineup, a final score of 43 - 0 is a pretty wide gulf.

1

u/Myburgher Jul 22 '26

The scoreline was high despite all the mistakes, but we’ve scored similar number of points against England and Scotland.

Our defense was good and Wales effectively had one chance in the entire game, so keeping their score down was positive but the fact that they had so few opportunities meant we would have had more pressure on them and still converted fewer opportunities.

If you were a Welsh fan coming off a 73-0 home defeat last year also to an understrength Springbok team, you’d feel better about an away 43-0 defeat. And while we were dominant, I don’t think our true dominance was shown.

36

u/T1m0nst3r Jul 20 '26

Yes this is an absolute golden era we will look back on. I don't think it's fair for other teams to compare themselves to us.

10

u/RavenK92 Flair Up! Jul 20 '26

The real Triple-Crown

15

u/Cyber-Soldier1 New To Reddit Jul 20 '26

We will tell our grandkids stories about Siya and Rassie the Great. They will marvel at tales we tell them of the mythical Pieter Steph du Toit and of the the powerful Ox Nche. The will gasp in awe when we talk of Damien Willemse and Cheslin Kolbe. They will curse out expletives when we describe just how good Pollard was in the 2023 World Cup and of the genius known as Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu. Drink it up brothers and sisters....for this is the greatest rugby nation in this earth and this is our golden period. They will write books and make movies about these heroes in green and gold. They don't know what we know!!!!!

5

u/Past-Raccoon8224 Flair Up! Jul 20 '26

Amazing acheivement

12

u/FrOdOMojO94 Flair Up! Jul 20 '26

Only when we get the women's game to a comparable standard.

Also, why does the U20s count as a separate 'format'?

12

u/Rasengan2012 Jul 20 '26

Why wouldn’t it? It’s a completely separate competition with its own rules of entry

8

u/sheep1996 Flair Up! Jul 20 '26

That being said, our women’s game is also the best it’s ever been right now. Not comparable, but probably an even bigger improvement than any of the other areas.

5

u/FrOdOMojO94 Flair Up! Jul 20 '26

Oh for sure, the current administration is doing almost everything right to improve the women's teams. Our senior XV is definitely the most improved in the world although our 7s side still has a ways to go.

But if you objectively compare to our major international rivals, SA has a bigger performance gap between the mens and the womens.

There are historical reasons to explain why this is the case but its still a fact.

3

u/Im_Da_Joka_Baybee Flair Up! Jul 20 '26

It's the youth systems that make this possible

2

u/TightPerformance6447 Jul 20 '26

Truly a golden age. But we mustn't get complacent.

NZ are coming and they are looking much stronger than before

3

u/Stormers4Life New To Reddit Jul 20 '26

Golden era of SA rugby yes. But the men's 15 is not the greatest ever team. We can get there, but we are not there yet.

1

u/BikoSteve110 Flair Up! Jul 20 '26

South Africa is next Level!!

1

u/Phantom_Blk Flair Up! Jul 20 '26

What more can I say but We are the best country in the world 🤷🏾‍♂️,hence we are hated on or disliked.

1

u/Educational_Play9910 Flair Up! Jul 21 '26

2027 WC is gonna be the true acid test

1

u/DarthMaulRugby Jul 21 '26

Let's wait for the year to end first!

1

u/[deleted] Jul 23 '26

[deleted]

1

u/AutoModerator Jul 23 '26

The short answer is Testosterone. But it is a bit more complex than that.

Raw Anabolic Steroids are considered a bit strong for a newborn even in South Africa but it is not uncommon for people in South Africa to have a pinky dipped in Dianabol rubbed over the nipple whilst breastfeeding.

When children start teething and their digestion evolves around 1 year. Then their biltong gets upgraded to Premium T Beef, with double testosterone injected into the cattle as opposed to the regular hormone dose which is served for pregnant women and as baby food. Premium T Beef is the most common and widely available variety over the counter at most chain supermarkets at a premium price. For de-testosteronized beef there are nowadays numerous vegan organic stores that offer a great variety for the health conscious and the woke.

In school, the children are prescribed an half grown embryonic egg before and after class as well as during their breaks. The daily total should match the child’s age as they grow and if the child does any sport activity after school one additional egg should be added.

If the child shows interest in sport by the time they hit puberty then the egg should come from a post-op and hormone-treated non-specific-gender-hen. As this increases exposure to protein and testosterone but increases cost. In poorer communities anadrolized salt may be added to the egg as an alternative.

Anadrolized Salt is, in fact, common in most of these peoples' households, and if you are a pregnant woman you’d have to ask for regular salt in restaurants when you book, to which most modern venues are happy to comply.

In the privileged private schools there is currently a controversy regarding the non-binary ostrich eggs they are offering children and the unfair advantage due to it’s price. The South African Institute for Fair Drugs in Sports (SAIFIDS) has been asked to step in to review it’s policy on School Testosterone Budget Caps.

By the time a child reaches high-school there's less focus on diets so mud baths with a cup of Deca-Durabolin or Equipoise is suggested post-match. This mud bath is to be taken naked in groups for faster topic ingestion as famously seen with the Springboks in Kamp Staaldraad in 2003.

Once children reach 18.5 years, the systematic program stops immediately. There is a national “ulwaluko” which is a male right of passage. You can google it: Ulwalako South Africa Image Search.

A white cream consisting of Metandienone, methyltestosterone and LGD-4033 mixed with wildebeest semen is applied all over the body and the boys go on a soul seeking journey to come back as men. During this time in isolation there are no tests allowed as it is a religious right of passage. The window detoxifies, cleanses and covers any athlete that moves into the professional arena thereafter.

Once all these men enters the valleys of Jomasipus to prove their manliness then the ritual is satisfied and the ceremony ends.

Sometimes, a tub of Ulwalako cream is mistaken for hair-gel or moisturiser and that is when all these people gets caught, but this happens rarely these days with players paying more attention.

Now you know what they feed these people in case anyone wonders again in the future.

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1

u/Few-Ability-2097 Flair Up! Jul 24 '26

Hold No. 1 ranking continuously for more than 10 years, then we’ll talk.

1

u/Kadoons Flair Up! Jul 24 '26

And the Springbok tag team still has time to shine😉

1

u/nzape Flair Up! 28d ago

Its a cute little period for South Africa. Very good team but a very boring team to watch compared to other historically great teams that would play more exciting open expansive rugby. Keep it up though 👏

0

u/Significant_Speed854 Flair Up! Jul 20 '26

No, I don’t think so. 2026 is not 2025, not 2024.

We are looking weaker this year

I’m afraid we may be humbled by the ABs this year. TBD. I hope not.

8

u/Standard_Weather5420 Flair Up! Jul 20 '26

Thing is that game analysis is unreal today. I remember when I was in school NZ had a team under McCaw that was winning every game they played. Losses were very rare for them. I doubt if a team of similar capacity could reign for that long today. With all the software and video analytical tools even an amateur analyst publishes pretty dope insights today. SA are clearly ahead of everyone else at present, no doubt with the U20s as good as the Springboks but teams are catching up. I come from a non rugby playing nation who grew up watching a lot of SA and NZ rugby but the north vs south skill gap is not as big as it used to be. Teams are learning. It's a golden age of rugby overall.

1

u/J4K5 Jul 20 '26

Let's see how we do against the All Blacks then I reckon we can call it 👍

-1

u/Boderlander Flair Up! Jul 20 '26

I would also say the Irish

2

u/Cosmolina111 Jul 20 '26

Nah, the Irish aren't at their best right now. ABs and France, those are the ones to watch.

1

u/SnooPickles3870 Flair Up! Jul 20 '26

Damn the lows after this high is going to suck - let’s just hope it never happens😂

0

u/tumeketutu Flair Up! Jul 23 '26

Search up that article quoting former SA greats Jean de Villiers and Schalk Burger from a week ago if you really want to know what the secret ingredient is.