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.

So England is must win. What about Ireland and Japan games?

The NZ team has expectations to win every game. Ireland and Japan will be no exception as will England. Schmidt in his first test against his native country will be wanting the NZRU sit up and take note. We also play France at home and the top team won't play in Japan.

There are some teams where the threat is greater than others. England beat NZ convincingly last year at home. The damage must be minimised. SA beat us in all three games in 2009. The must win doesn't mean to say that NZ will win. It's just important when you're at the top not to give your opposition too much hope or confidence. I would see the must win as a compliment that you hurt the NZ team's pride. There have already been comments about other NH sides taking confidence from that result and taking comfort in the fact that this NZ team is beatable.

NZ do lose games. But they try to minimise those losses and be consistent in their victories. You think England can win again this November. Why the hell not. You did last year. But I will make no apologies for thinking NZ can win all their games against England. I think that even today even though the task is enormously complicated. kia kaha

If england win this time around I will be as shocked as you don't worry.

BUt If i was to say on here that the next england v wales win is a must win. People would call me cocky!

Dont worry about it though- Nothing wrong with being cocky!

especially if you are a KIWI!!

You kind of have earned that right!

I haven't earned anything. The All Blacks have earned that right to approach every game with the belief that they can win. The pressure put on them is irrelevant. The expectations they place on themselves as players is what matters.

If you said England must win against Wales I wouldn't see that as cocky. England will win against Wales has a much different meaning. England must win against Wales as they have lost the last two games and they face Wales in their pool in 2015. The rot must stop here is all you're saying. That's not cocky. That's a realisation that the team you wish to defeat has got one up on you and you need to rectify that. You may see that as cockiness that you have a team capable of doing that but I don't think anybody would be shocked if that result did occur so why not put it out there.

I suppose it depends how you define the term must win.

Its used a lot in football. Fans of certain teams talk about must wins a lot. Its normally in reference to teams that are at the bottom of the league..

I understand you look at things differently- The thought of losing to teams like ireland or japan are so low that it doesn't even register!(because you never have lost to them!)

That's not how the NZ players prepare against Ireland. If they go in thinking we have never lost to them you can be quickly humbled. You must go into the match thinking this team must not beat us because we can't be the first team to lose to them. Just as it's motivating to think you could be the first to beat a side, so too is it motivating to think you can't be the team that loses to a side that's never beaten you. Preparation is key and that goes into before the match has even been played.

If you're bottom of the league then it's a must win because you're fighting relegation. If you're at the top it's a must win because you want to stay at the top. The key is approaching every game to see how you can motivate yourself best to win.

i am not talking about them. I am talking about you.

to state one set of games is a must win over others is prioritising a set of games..

So by your reasoning now(every game is a must win) is going against your original postings

Every game I expect my team to win. History tells me that expectation is unrealistic. And yet I still demand it. When a team beats us I feel the next game is a must win. That has a higher degree of urgency than beating a team that hasn't beaten us the last time we have met or in quite a few cases never beaten us. This does not mean that we will win but as a fan it is what I demand.

This surely isn't difficult to understand.

Yes it is quite hard to understand tbh.

BUt then i do understand it . The psyche of the kiwi fan is that they could just about handle the odd loss to SA , aus and even france- but when its england.. That doesn't sit right at all!

I mention England because they are the last team to beat us. We drew against Australia in Brisbane and they were a must win in Sydney after that performance. If the other teams you mentioned had beaten us this year or last year they would be must wins as well. It's because England beat us last year that they are must wins this year. Results dictate who I feel are must wins. Does that make it clearer for you?

You are a kiwi that lives in spain in 2013!

Maybe you don't realise but the majority of sports fans don't allways get that winning feeling. We can't worry about wanting to have won the last game against every team on the planet!!- because it just doesn't happen!

I never said my expectations were realistic. But they are what they are and somehow my team finds a way usually to live up to them. What importance does my place of abode have on my love for my team?

yours are realistic

point being was that you prioritised the england games.. The loss clearly got to you!

They all get to me mate. It doesn't matter against who.

Unbelievable atmosphere, surely another one for the history books. Is this the match thread BTW?

Not too often multi-lingual anthems are blasted out in the same sporting endeavour. Just adds to the occasion really

chants of "ole" pretty much drowned the Haka!!! It looks like this might be one of those transcendent days in sport!

What a start from both sides. SA backs showing they can pass out wide and have been finding space. Deserved to get points on board 3-0 SA.

guess we are going for the win, and the rest will take care of itself

Wow

Ben Smith gets outright try scoring record and an absolute peach of a try. Great reply from NZ.

What a fantastic break and pass by Vermeulen!

good try habana...ab defence out wide a little thin both sides at times

Great run from Vermeulan. Weak in the midfield there by the NZ defence. What a game!!

Habana again! Wow!

What a game

Habana scores the second and that was all his work. Beautiful finish. What will the NZ response be?

Sorry great Louw pass as well.

hmm...momentum forward pass so fair enough...good try.

Great stuff. SA & NZ won't break sweat over here next month!

Such a shame to see Habana going off.. he is on fire.

Gutted for him. Was on fire. :/

Sorry to see Habana go off with a hamstring. Two beautifully taken tries and a big blow for the SA attack.

first bit of luck to nz with habana off. two tries required to make a title chase too.

Biltong wrote:England has the best record at Ellispark, but then they have only played there three times for one win.

That's a 33% win ratio.

The all blacks are at 38% according to the OP so England don't have the best record at Ellis Park.

Great reply from NZ and we needed that. I'll say it again. What a match!!! Who cares about the championship. We want the win!!

Why the fk was that not a YC!!!

ebop wrote:Why the fk was that not a YC!!!

Oh shut up.  

Mister Ref dost thou have a high opinion of yourself?  

Well adjudicated though. Beast came from the side but used his arms in the clearout.

Calm down mate

This is a special game of rugby.

Wow.. 15-14!

That aerial shot over this full capacity ground makes me think those people are the luckiest people alive at the moment. What an atmosphere and a game to match it.

Impressed with SA who are playing a very good mix of rugby. Still think its playing into the AB hands as its starting to open up.

Agree with you Kia and T. Nobody plays heads up, unpredictable rugby better than the AB's.

Do they award a player of the tournament in the RC? Read, B.Smith, De Villiers and Bismarck are probably the lead candidates.

hope alberts is ok...never a good sight.

SA are shown they can play good varied rugby against NZ. Who will finish stronger in the second half when this furious pace starts to take its toll?

This first half has been like seeing a heavyweight bout with passages going toe to toe and good defence and technique as well. I just hope we get more of this in the second half as this is rugby heaven. Both these sides are putting on a top drawer performance here and should be congratulated. Let's hope it continues in the second half.

SA have an unbelievably strong bench, but it could be empty before the end of the game, which could be their undoing.