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Alex Chapman: All Blacks misery, Ferns delight, & it's still not the Wahs' year
Alex Chapman • September 15th, 2025 12:06 pm
All Blacks | Photo: Photosport
Just a week after the pristine paradise of the Garden of Eden was enjoyed and harmony restored, the Capital Curse struck again in a way that would belong in the Old Testament - and the plagues and floods of criticism have ensued.
But unlike in Genesis and Exodus, this wasn’t punishment for disobedience or denial, it was for really poor play.
Really, really, really poor play.
Rightly so, several hats have been tipped the way of the Springboks. They were utterly phenomenal and produced the sort of performance perhaps not seen before on these shores. At least by South Africa.
Would any team in the world have beaten such a supreme Springboks side on Saturday? Probably not. But not only were the All Blacks not good enough, they barely even competed in the second half.
Tony Brown’s fingerprints were all over the Boks game plan while the All Blacks were locked up in the second half and now face questioning and prosecution.
The thesauruses have got a working over as we scamper to try find alternatives for 'embarrassing', 'woeful', 'disappointing' etc.
The sun has come out, so let’s be logical about it and use numbers rather than emotions as the currency for reasoning.
Is this the right All Blacks coaching & leadership group? | Scotty & Izzy
The set piece was shocking. Simple. The All Blacks won just 69 percent of their lineout while referee Nika Amashukeli regularly pinged them at scrum time as the Boks pushed the All Blacks pack around like a kid’s trolley at the supermarket.
There were a whopping 46 missed tackles. Forty six, which all culminated into the most-worrying stat of them all – the biggest-ever defeat in All Blacks history.
In terms of game plan, they were once again victims of an aerial assault, and they went away from what worked a week before, with the passing at times static and the All Blacks flat footed on both sides of the ball, as they failed to hit runners at pace and find any real space.
What stems into that, and whether you agree with it or not, but the fact some fans feel as if the team gave up is concerning. They looked directionless and uncertain; far from the sort of problem-solvers you’d expect from this side.
Alarmingly, across the board there isn’t a clear or obvious solution, or in this case, solutions. There’s more than just one or two areas that need to be fixed, and as the old saying goes, it’s one thing to see the problem, it's another to come up with a solution.
The solution and soul searching will have to be deep and vast, before once again the Eden Park record goes on the line.
Black Ferns Show How It’s Done
By contrast to their male counterparts, the Black Ferns came to life in the second half against South Africa, and in doing so, cemented their spot in the semi-finals of the World Cup.
Having made 143 tackles (117 more than South Africa) and had just 19 percent of first half possession, New Zealand must’ve had some caffeine-filled oranges with how they came to life in the second half.
In the end, eight tries some of which were scintillating, four times the amount of line breaks and a 29-point win with just 35 percent possession, now has them locked in for a date with world number two Canada.
With 19 turnovers, that’s an obvious area of improvement for Saturday, but as is often the case with six-time World Cup winners, they’re hitting their straps at the right time.
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Not Their Year
Season ‘25 over.
Coach Andrew Webster said after the loss to Penrith that it felt like they were missing the last piece. And while that missing piece is stopping them from completing the puzzle, it just can’t be found after searching in the box, beneath a body part of under the couch.
Consideration and context must be given. If any team lost their best forward, leading half, and arguably best centre for an extended period, they’re going to struggle to regularly compete and will likely be the determining factor in how deep they go in the finals.
Against the Panthers, they competed well for 60 minutes, particuarly defensively, but again fell away and ended up completing just 72 percent of their sets, missed 45 tackles and made 16 errors.
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The Wahine season is also over, though theirs at least finished on a high with a record 44-6 win over the Wests Tigers in Sydney.
That sees them finish eighth out of 12 teams with four victories from 11 games in their first season back in the NRLW since 2020.
Maybe 2026 will be their year. Either team.
Athletics excellence
The feel-good moment of the weekend came with George Beamish at the World Athletics Championships.
If you haven’t seen it, go back and watch the 3000m steeplechase qualifications, with the Kiwi falling, getting trodden on, and still making the final.
There’s already been some solid results for New Zealand in Tokyo, most-notably Tom Walsh finishing fourth, and there still some medal chances to come with the likes of Hamish Kerr and Maddi Wesche.
Tune into Alex Chapman on Sport Nation Mornings, 9am to midday on Thursdays & Fridays.
