New Zealand vs South Africa: Can the Springboks end the All Blacks dominance at Eden Park?
by Devesh Jaganath | by Devesh Jaganath
South Africa hoping to end Eden Park hoodoo
The opening week of the 2025 Rugby Championship produced a massively unexpected result, with South Africa falling 38-22 to Australia at home before New Zealand secured a stunning 41-24 victory over Argentina later in the day.
However, our rugby predictions were confirmed in week two when the Springboks bounced back to winning ways by beating the Wallabies 30-22 - albeit it was a less than perfect performance from the defending champions.
Now, as we reach the halfway point of the competition, the Boks head to Auckland to face a familiar foe in New Zealand this week, and despite the world champions’ dominance globally over the past few years, they arrive at Eden Park as the underdogs.
New Zealand have not lost at Eden Park in 50 matches!
Indeed, the famous Green and Gold have not tasted victory at the fortress of the All Blacks since 1937, and to show how seriously the defending champions are taking this clash, Rassie Erasmus opted to delay his squad announcement to much later than usual - something the Boks are not known for.
Still, South Africa have been the dominant side in this contest in recent years, having beaten this opponent in four of the last five meetings, including at the Rugby World Cup in France back in 2023.
The major issue, though? None of those victories came on enemy territory! However, on the positive, the Boks have started both matches in this competition very well, and if they can do likewise here, it will be interesting to see if the All Blacks can battle back when they’ve not been at their absolute best either.
New Zealand expected to take top spot in Week 3
According to our New Zealand vs South Africa prediction, our experts seem to be leaning toward the All Blacks to beat the Springboks at Eden Park and move into pole position in the Rugby Championship standings ahead of the second half of the competition.
As mentioned, on top of needing to rebound from last week’s defeat, Scott Robertson’s side are under additional pressure to maintain their incredible record at Eden Park this week - their 50-match unbeaten run across all competitions extends all the way back to 1994.
However, the home side have been dealt a few significant personnel blows in the lead-up to this blockbuster clash, with Cortez Ratima, Cam Roigard and Noah Hotham all ruled out of the match due to injury.
Finlay Christie will be tasked with controlling matters at scrumhalf for the All Blacks!
Other notable squad news includes Tupou Vaa’i moving to the second row and Emoni Narawa being brought onto the wing, where he will be tasked with stopping and nullifying the threat carried by the Boks’ sensational number 14, Cheslin Kolbe.
If New Zealand are able to secure victory at Eden Park, they will widen the gap at the top of the World Rugby standings, but if they lose their incredible streak in Auckland, the Boks will reclaim the lead, while the All Blacks will slip to third behind Ireland.
New Zealand vs South Africa squads:
All Blacks: 15 Will Jordan, 14 Emoni Narawa, 13 Billy Proctor, 12 Jordie Barrett, 11 Rieko Ioane, 10 Beauden Barrett, 9 Finlay Christie, 8 Wallace Sititi, 7 Ardie Savea, 6 Simon Parker, 5 Tupou Vaa’i, 4 Scott Barrett (c), 3 Fletcher Newell, 2 Codie Taylor, 1 Ethan de Groot
Replacements: 16 Samisoni Taukei’aho, 17 Tamaiti Williams, 18 Tyrel Lomax, 19 Fabian Holland, 20 Du’Plessis Kirifi, 21 Kyle Preston, 22 Quinn Tupaea, 23 Damian McKenzie
Springboks: 15 Willie Le Roux, 14 Cheslin Kolbe, 13 Jesse Kriel (c), 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Canan Moodie, 10 Handre Pollard, 9 Grant Williams, 8 Siya Kolisi, 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 6 Marco van Staden, 5 Ruan Nortje, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Thomas du Toit, 2 Malcolm Marx, 1 Ox Nche
Replacements: 16 Jan-Hendrik Wessels, 17 Boan Venter, 18 Wilco Louw, 19 Lood de Jager, 20 Kwagga Smith, 21 Cobus Reinach, 22 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, 23 Ethan Hooker
Match details:
Venue: Eden Park, Auckland
Date: Saturday, September 6
Referee: Karl Dickson
Assistant referees: Nika Amashukeli, Jordan Way
Live coverage: New Zealand vs South Africa livescore
