Newlands no Bok fortress
Tue, 12 Aug 2008 21:30
South Africa won in Dunedin for the first time ever this year. They will have to win this year and next year as well just to catch up with New Zealand at Newlands.
clearly it is a ground the All Blacks like. Perhaps it is the cool weather, the winter rain, the soft turf. Whatever it is they lead South Africa 8-5 at the famous ground that hosted its first Test in 1891, one of the oldest grounds in the world of international rugby.
The teams have met eight times at Newlands. The All Blacks have won five, the Springboks three.
We shall give details of each Test in two tranches.
This week's Test will be a few days short of 80 years since the first Test - the umbrella Test when Mark Nicholls outplayed Bennie Osler and enabled the All Blacks to draw the series.
The next All Black visit was 21 years later and this time the Springboks won, but then they won all four Tests in the series.
They won the series in 1960 and 1970 but lost at Newlands.
They won in 1976 but threw it away in 1996 and 2001 before they won three years ago.
Results at Newlands:
1928: New Zealand won 13-5
1949: South Africa won 15-11
1960: New Zealand won 11-3
1970: New Zealand won 9-8
1976: South Africa won 15-10
1996: New Zealand won 29-18
2001: New Zealand won 12-3
2005: South Africa won 22-16
