Ellis Park. The ultimate ABs bogey ground.

First topic message reminder :

Really looking forward to game tomorrow. It dont get much bigger than this for AB or SA fans.
Was somewhat surprised about what a stranglehold SA has had over ABs here.
ABs have a 37% win ratio. Or conversely SA have a 63% success rate since 1928.
3 wins for ABs in 11 games and one of those was in 1928!
On a personal note there are certain matches that stand out in my lifetme.

1. 1976. The first rugby tour of SA I can remember and i think the first with live coverage in NZ. AB loss 15-14.
Dont remember a whole lot about tour or game. Mainly that the grounds seemed like rock hard dust bowls (especially when compared with the muddy bogs I was playing on at the time as a child in dunedin!!) and why didnt Brian Williams or Sid Going not kick goals half as competently as Gerald Bosch!

2. 1992. The "Re-admission Game". AB win  27-24. Just to be playing SA again was almost unbelievable. It was a game that we AB fans thought may never come again. ABs fans saw it as the biggest compliment that SA wanted their first game to be against us at Ellis Park.
First time Id ever really seen a team affected by altitude. SA came back from 27-10 down to nearly win.

3. 1995. RWC Final. Cant/choose not to remember this game. I believe it ended in a certain amount of pain for me!

I could go on but....

I cant believe ABs havent played here since 2004.

Should be a cracker.
Lets hope game is remembered for all the right reasons.

Oh No Mysti,no way would I miss it recorded it and just finished watching it.Nigel Owens had
a blinder,the Scrums were well policed and neither side gained real dominance.To be frank
they were somewhat messy IRB really need to speed up the feed.Not sure how the injuries
would have effected the game.Both teams could have had 6 tries each significant the All
Blacks not only defended but scored when down to 14 men.Best match I`ve seen in years
Boks handling rather fell apart late in the game.Well done both sides Boks have made huge strides this year.As an AB supporter a undefeated year 2013 would be the ultimate accolade for this side.

AB fans will be rapt with the win but theyve also tucked in the back of their minds to keep their eye on the progress of this side. This was as different a bok side (vs the ABs) Ive seen in probably 15 years and their wider use of resources combined with experience and introduction to new players to it spells the danger danger warning bells.

Hi,Taylorman expected it realistically only way the Boks were going to take 4Ns,also thought
IF it happened it would suit the AB`s.Honestly didn't expect an AB win at altitude after travel
but delighted to be proved wrong.Didn`t see a lot of Bismarck rather suspected he would
be more disciplined in his approach.Ref had a blinder,and to win with two yellows against
this Bok side is really something.

hi ya Alan, I think the harder and faster ground negated du plessis impact as kia says and the wide expansive game took the ball away from the pack more. Its the non traditional areas of width and pace from the boks that made the game a spectacle. Very few one ups where they used to do it religously. The Abs went as I thought they would- they stepped up, used their width and depth from the bench and defended sternly- as they usually do.

The unexpected factor was the bok approach which was there all year then vanished at Eden park. They brought it back in true styled as I'd been almost demanding before the match...doesnt mean I thought they would, or could to that extent. I mean when do you see the bok losies offloading to Habana wide out?!

The wider approach ultimately cost them because theyre not used to defending the open play so much in one match but thats something they can work on, and will serve to gel them as a unit between backs and forwards more, as defence is team wide in the open game.

Note the W's are killing the pumas...hat trick to Folau...32-10 second half.

Apart from the cheeky try ,as Messam walked off Boks didn't make the extra man count
enough which surprised me.

Wow sensational game of rugby. The Springboks played as well as they have in years but the All blacks were superlative. Gees there were some massive performances - Etzebeth, Bismarck, Le Roux, Ben Smith, Dagg but Keiron Reid was out of this world.

Congrats the ABs but also the Boks for throwing down the gauntlet. Could be a long autumn for the NH if these two have anything left in the tank.

I don't know who got man of the match yesterday, but in my view Read was the man.

True BB... Difficult to see beyond read bar Messam. For the boks the standout performer was JDV.

Read got man of the match. Did a nice interview post game. Comes across as very humble and perfect to take over the captaincy reigns once Mccaw has decided to give the world a chance.

The AB's had a very comfy start to this years RC with I think 3 home games. Next season will they have to travel a lot more like the other teams had to?

No Yappy, the schedule is always the same.

SA has to play three away games in a row.

Ouch well that's odd...

The RC is all about momentum... Get a good start, get your home games in first and it can make a difficult challenge away seem a little easier.

Start away and lose and then you HAVE to win at home, have to get bonus points etc.

Need to watch highlights of this. Made the mistake of following Quins' match and then had to rehearse and perform so missed it. Sounds incredible

yappysnap wrote:Read got man of the match. Did a nice interview post game. Comes across as very humble and perfect to take over the captaincy reigns once Mccaw has decided to give the world a chance.

The AB's had a very comfy start to this years RC with I think 3 home games. Next season will they have to travel a lot more like the other teams had to?

Nope. First Bledisloe cup game was in Sydney, as it will be for the next ten years.

well they should just add somoa tonga and figi and alternate between home and away instead

Did you mean Fiji? Or you are constipated?

Awesome game, and the atmosphere at Ellis Park was also phenomenal. I would say even better than Newlands and Loftus. NZ played really well, so did we - until we ran out of gas. I don't think we were this type of rugby fit. Also those silly errors in the last couple of minutes. But for 60 minutes difinitely the best rugby I have seen in a long time from us.

Last time I saw the boks game like that was Durban 05 I think vs. France. That was a hell of a game too.

fa0019 wrote:Last time I saw the boks game like that was Durban 05 I think vs. France. That was a hell of a game too.

yeah that 30-30 game was a bit of thriller as well. the funny stat about SA-France games is that France has yet to be beaten in Ellis Park! (granted they only played there 4 times)

Nice stat that

That was quite a game on Saturday.
Both teams attempted to play good rugby.
Im sure the neutrals enjoyed it.