Boks break 8-year hoodoo in physical style with profound manhandling of All Blacks

In Mbombela

The Springboks produced an uncompromisingly physical, rabidly aggressive and their most tactical assured showing since becoming World Champions to break their eight-year hoodoo against the All Blacks by beating them 26-10 at the Mbombela Stadium on Saturday.

They may have finished the game with 14 men after try-scorer Kurt-Lee Arendse knocked himself out and got sent off for taking out Beauden Barrett in the air, but they were too far ahead at that point.

They may have failed to keep the All Blacks tryless in a Bok win for the first time since the Wellington success in 1998, but the 16-point buffer was by far their most convincing winning margin in the professional era.

It wasn't pretty - seldom is the Bok way of rugby - and it is said that only a mother could love how they go about their business.

However, they earned the love of not just the 42 387 who packed into the giraffe-propped nation, but the entire country.

It was aggressive.

It was physical.

It was faultless and flawless in every sense.

In what was a frenzied start, the Boks suffered a massive blow when just 40 seconds into the game, hometown hero Faf de Klerk was knocked out cold when he successfully tackled All Black wing Caleb Clarke.

The capacity crowd went into a hush, but cheered 'Faffie, Faffie, Faffie' in a lovingly loud, but futile attempt to get him to wake up.

He was able to signal a thumbs up as he was stretchered off, much to the delight of the crowd that packed the stadium to a point where none of the zebra-striped seats was visible.

When he reappeared again in the 19th-minute, the decibels of the cheers exceeded that of Arendse's try.

From the scrum that followed De Klerk's injury, the Springboks initially forced a freekick, from where the next