- Ask Steven Rugby
All Blacks dominance
John GriffithsNovember 5, 2014
Has any country ever held a lead in terms of overall wins in their fixtures against New Zealand? David Jones, Wales
At present the All Blacks hold a comfortable lead in all their series against Test opponents. The best record in Tests against New Zealand belongs to the Springboks. Their recent win in Johannesburg on the final weekend of this year's Rugby Championship was their 35th in an 89-match fixture going back to 1921. That gives the Springboks a 39% win record. Australia has the next best winning percentage (27%), followed by France (22%) and England (18%).
In the past, however, two nations have held the lead in terms of cumulative wins in series against the All Blacks: South Africa and Wales.
Wales alone recorded victory in their first-ever meeting with New Zealand. They beat Dave Gallaher's Original All Blacks 3-0 at Cardiff in 1905 and it took the All Blacks nearly 64 years to overtake the Welsh.
New Zealand squared the series with a resounding 19-0 win in 1924 at Swansea but then lost on successive visits to Cardiff: 13-12 in a thriller in 1935 and 13-8 in another exciting match in 1953. That gave Wales a 75% winning rate against the All Blacks - but they haven't won a match since.
Although New Zealand won their inaugural Test against South Africa, the Springboks tied the first two series with the All Blacks. It was 1-1 with one drawn in New Zealand in 1921 and 2-2 in South Africa in 1928. The 'Boks became the first side to win a series in this fixture when they came from behind to triumph 2-1 under Phil Nel in New Zealand in 1937.
The Springboks won the first post-war series between the sides 4-0 in South Africa in 1949 to establish a 9-4 advantage in the overall sway of battle - a lead that held until the post-apartheid era. There was never more than one win between the teams before 1949.
When Sean Fitzpatrick led New Zealand to their first series win on South African soil in 1996, the All Blacks regained a lead in the overall series of results for the first time since before the War and they have never relinquished it since.
John Griffiths is a widely respected rugby historian and is the author of several sports books, a regular contributor to the Daily Telegraph and co-author of the IRB International Rugby Yearbook. He has provided insight for Scrum.com since 1999.
