All Blacks (from left) Owen Franks, Kieran Read, Mils Muliaina, Jimmy Cowan and Dan Carter after the 32-29 loss to the Springboks at Waikato Stadium, Hamilton. Photo: Dave Lintott/Photosport
All Blacks v Springboks
Kick-off: 7:05pm Saturday 6 September
Eden Park, Auckland
Live blog updates on RNZ Sport
While many are hoping for the best on Saturday night against the Springboks, the overriding feeling in New Zealand right now is fear of the worst. The All Blacks are a brand that runs on fear, both of what others feel about their prowess on the field as well as the way they themselves feel about losing.
The shock to New Zealand society isn't quite what it once was, given that for a lot of our history there was nothing open on Sundays so staying in and stewing about what had happened the day before made an All Black loss feel far worse. But that doesn't mean rugby fans are over it, as some significantly recent examples show.
Here's a look at what happened after famous All Black home losses:
1937 Springboks 17 - 6 All Blacks
It seems crazy that the last time the Springboks won at Eden Park, Hitler was still in power and South Africa hadn't even instituted apartheid yet. What made it worse was that the All Blacks had to wait another 12 years - by which time both of those things had changed dramatically - to get another crack at the Springboks, so none of the players involved in this game ever got a chance for redemption.
This five tries to nil loss stood as the heaviest All Black defeat at home for another 27 years.
1956 Springboks 8 - 3 All Blacks
Could you imagine an All Black captain being dropped halfway through a World Cup? That's about the best comparison to the hysteria by the selectors and public after this tight loss at Athletic Park, with skipper and halfback Pat Vincent one of six players discarded for the next test in Christchurch.
The 1956 series, which the All Blacks eventually won 3-1, is remembered as the most cherished and intense of all due to it being an unofficial world championship at the time.
1964 Wallabies 20 - 5 All Blacks
Don Clarke, 1964. Photo: L'EQUIPE/Offside Sports/Photosport.co.nz
A loss so bad at Athletic Park it ended the test career of then-All Black record points scorer Don Clarke, however, he wasn't alone when it came to being shown the door. John Graham, Ralph Caulton, Allan Stewart and Barry Thomas and Des Connor also never wore a black jersey again after the upset loss, with Connor leaving the country not long after to move back to his native Australia.
1993 British Lions 20 - 7 All Blacks
Zinzan Brooke, 1993. Photo: © Photosport Ltd www.photosport.co.nz
After narrowly scraping past the Lions thanks to a debatable late penalty in the first test, the All Blacks were absolutely thumped in the second at Athletic Park. Most notably, it was arguably Sean Fitzpatrick's worst performance in charge and led to immediate calls for him to be sacked.
Luckily, coach Laurie Mains wasn't interested in the advice and Fitzpatrick went on to become one of the All Blacks' greatest ever captains.
1998 Wallabies 27 - 23 All Blacks
Don't be fooled by the scoreline, this was a very comprehensive win by an absolutely stacked Wallaby side at Lancaster Park that included John Eales, George Gregan, Stephen Larkham, Tim Horan and Matt Burke. Two late tries added some respectability for the All Blacks, but it couldn't stop the Wallabies from taking the Bledisloe Cup and holding onto it for a then-astoundingly long tenure of five years.
Making his debut off the bench that day was current All Black coach Scott Robertson.
2022 Ireland 32 - 22 All Blacks
Photo: photosport
The first home series loss by the All Blacks in 28 years was greeted with shock from a New Zealand public after this result at Sky Stadium, but it was made an awful lot worse when coach Ian Foster skipped the traditional Sunday press conference to explain what went wrong. That poured fuel on an already substantial fire, which burned through an entire season's worth of conjecture about Foster's job and ending up with the eventual elevation of Robertson a year later.
The main consolation was the revenge job the All Blacks did on the Irish a year later at the World Cup, consigning them to yet another quarter-final exit.
Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
