Springbok captain Siya Kolisi is carried on the shoulders of locks Eben Etzebeth and RG Snyman after playing his 100th Test in their win over France in Paris. It is a measure of how consistently good the Springboks were in 2025 that it is difficult to nail down one iconic performance from their 14-Test season. Just two Test matches were lost — against the Wallabies in Johannesburg and the All Blacks at Eden Park — and among the 12 wins there were some outstanding displays.
In trying to crown a season-defining match, we also have to take into account that the Boks used contrasting methods to defeat their opponents. In this eighth season under Rassie Erasmus, the Boks are a substantially different side from the one that started gingerly under the new coach in 2018. In those early days it was all about the box kick and forward strangulation, but now the Boks can use a variety of methods to subdue and outwit the opposition — whether running them off their feet, as in the thrashing of the Pumas in Durban; smashing the opposition scrum to smithereens in Dublin; taking Italy to the gutter for a street fight in Turin; or putting all the components slickly together to outclass the All Blacks in Wellington and France in Paris.
To pick a “Best Performance Award”, we obviously have to take into consideration the quality of the opposition. Thus, we preclude the mountains of points scored against Japan at Wembley and Wales in Cardiff. I quite like the Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu-inspired 67-30 defeat of Argentina at Kings Park, and one of the flyhalf’s three tries that evening is among my tries of the year.
[paywall]
I’m talking about the one where he kicked long into space and then outstripped the cover defence — not to mention his own support — to gather and dive over. But 30 points were conceded in that match, including the scarcely believable Cheslin Kolbe drop-out to Santiago Chocobares, so it cannot be classified as a complete performance. At the beginning of the year, a date circled in red on the calendar would have been the showdown with the All Blacks in Auckland.
A big box for the Boks to tick was winning at Eden Park for the first time since 1937, while ending an All Black reign at the ground that stretched over more than 100 matches. But the Boks started that game lethargically and gifted the Kiwis 14 early points. That made it difficult to win the match.
Still, they finished strongly, a caution of what was to come the following week in Wellington. The Kiwis were blown away by a near-perfect performance of poise, power and precision, with Manie Libbok and Feinberg-Mngomezulu pulling the strings. Towards the end of the record 43-10 walloping, the All Blacks were looking to the referee as a beaten boxer looks to his corner in the hope of a white towel.
[/paywall]
