All Blacks v South Africa: The losing stat All Blacks are out to avoid in Cape Town

Beauden Barrett reacts in disappointment after defeat to South Africa at Ellis Park. Photo / Photosport

The All Blacks face a must-win match to keep their Rugby Championship hopes alive in Cape Town on Sunday – but also need a victory to avoid an unwanted record of suffering a fourth straight defeat to the Springboks.

The All Blacks haven’t lost four in a row to their great rivals since 1949, when the Springboks won the test series 4-0. That was part of a six-test losing streak after the Boks won the last two matches of the 1937 series.

Sunday’s 27-31 defeat at Ellis Park was the All Blacks’ third in 12 months against South Africa, including the warm-up test thrashing at Twickenham and the Rugby World Cup final.

The last time New Zealand lost three straight to the Springboks was in 2009 after Tri Nations defeats in Bloemfontein and Durban were followed by a 32-29 loss in Hamilton.

The All Blacks will play at Cape Town Stadium for the first time, a venue that was used for the 2010 Fifa World Cup. In their 11 previous visits to Cape Town, dating back to the 1928 tour, they have played at Newlands Stadium where New Zealand has an impressive 7-3 record against South Africa. They also thrashed England in the 1995 World Cup semifinal at Newlands.

Their previous visit to Cape Town was in 2017, a 25-24 victory in which Damian McKenzie had a standout performance.

“To play New Zealand is big; to beat New Zealand and is big and for players to step up against Tier One nations like Ireland and against an amazing New Zealand team is really good for our long-term plans,” Springboks coach Rassie Erasmus said after the Ellis Park victory.

“Winning the Castle Lager Rugby Championship is very important, and I would definitely love to win it, but we will definitely move players around next week and hopefully they make it, but we won’t get ahead of ourselves,” he added.

“Everything didn’t go right today, and we’ll have a look at why we didn’t get out of our half at stages and why we didn’t capitalise on chances a few times. Our focus is only on next week.”

All Blacks’ worst losing streak against South Africa

1937 - All Blacks 6 South Africa 13, Lancaster Park, Christchurch

1937 - All Blacks 6 South Africa 17, Eden Park, Auckland

1949 - All Blacks 11 South Africa 15, Newlands Stadium, Cape Town

1949 - All Blacks 6 South Africa 12, Ellis Park Stadium, Johannesburg

1949 - All Blacks 3 South Africa 9, Kingsmead Cricket Ground, Durban

1949 - All Blacks 8, South Africa 11, Crusaders Ground, Port Elizabeth

All Blacks’ record in Cape Town

1928 - All Blacks 13 South Africa 5

1949 - All Blacks 11 South Africa 15

1960 - All Blacks 11 South Africa 3

1970 - All Blacks 9 South Africa 8

1976 - All Blacks 10 South Africa 15

1995 - All Blacks 45 England 29

1996 - All Blacks 29 South Africa 18

2001 - All Blacks 12 South Africa 3

2005 - All Blacks 16 South Africa 22

2008 - All Blacks 19 South Africa 0

2017 - All Blacks 25 South Africa 24