South Africans are supposed to care about the All Blacks more than this. On Tuesday night, 14,759 people dotted the 52,000-seat Kings Park Stadium to watch New Zealand dismantle the Sharks 54-0. Durban was cold and soaked, with snow falling elsewhere in KwaZulu-Natal, but even allowing for the weather it made for an awkward advertisement for a grand new project.
Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry – the eight-match tour by New Zealand, culminating in four Tests, including one in the US – is an attempt to turn more than a century of history into a modern commercial property. The unions have formed a 50-50 venture, sharing commercial income, while taking the final Test to Baltimore is expected to generate $4-6 million more than another game in South Africa. Both unions need the money, and professional sport is supposed to generate revenue. But a rivalry cannot live on branding alone.
The early South African response to these All Blacks has been respectful without being reverential. More than 47,000 watched their opening 38-21 win against the Stormers in Cape Town, but there was little sense that an irresistible force had arrived. The contest was level after 65 minutes, New Zealand’s scrum and maul were troubled, and four late tries gave the score an emphatic gloss.
