Springboks and All Blacks triumph despite setbacks in Paris and Edinburgh

By Canadian Press on November 10, 2025.

The international rugby window opened and the view was very familiar: South Africa crushed French hearts with 14 men and New Zealand thwarted a Scotland fightback despite three yellow cards.

The Springboks won 32-17 after Lood de Jager was red-carded on halftime at the atmospheric Stade de France, and the All Blacks stunned Scotland 25-17 with a late charge at Murrayfield.

England outlasted a rousing Fiji 38-18, Italy sunk Australia 26-19 in Udine for a second straight time, Ireland stumbled past Japan 41-10, and Argentina racked up a record 52-28 win over Wales in Cardiff.

Here’s the AP’s take on the weekend.

Kolisi sacrificed

South Africa coach Rassie Erasmus was asked last week what made the difference between a good and great Springbok. To Erasmus, it was a player who put the team first. That principle has underpinned their triumphant last two Rugby World Cup campaigns. And its one of the reasons why Erasmus made Siya Kolisi the team leader seven years ago. Their faith in each other, going back to when Kolisi was a teenager, manifested in Paris where Erasmus sacrificed Kolisi halfway through his 100th test in order to confront a bullish France. De Jager’s red card — which might have been a mere yellow if he’d tackled Thomas Ramos with his arms out — meant South Africa started the second half down a man and down by a point. Kolisi was replaced during the break by Andre Esterhuizen, the hybrid center/flanker who could shore up the scrum and spark an attack. “I want to say thank you to our captain who was taken off … which was a tough call,” Erasmus said. “But when I told him he just took it on the chin and understood.” Kolisi buried any disappointment to cheer from the sidelines. “When coach Rassie came to ask me it was a case of putting the emotion aside because the team comes first, and I applaud them for the way they fought.” Erasmus had already showed his ruthlessness when he hooked struggling prop Boan Venter in the 32nd minute. The 14-man Springboks went old school, turning the game into a grind. Esterhuizen scored the go-ahead try and they achieved their biggest win over France in Paris in 28 years.

Supersub McKenzie

In the beginning, Damian McKenzie, usually one of the smallest players on the field, became too good to be ignored by the New Zealand selectors. Was he a flyhalf or a fullback? They eventually pinned him as a flyhalf-fullback supersub in the early mold of Beauden Barrett. Saved for late in games, his impact was often breathtaking. Then new coach Scott Robertson made McKenzie his starting 10 in 2024 but preferred Barrett’s poise by the end of the Rugby Championship. On Saturday against Scotland, McKenzie was a replacement for the 45th time in 70 tests and at his most eye-catching. He gave away the offside penalty that Scotland used to make it 17-17. But with the game on a knife edge, McKenzie produced the decisive touches. First, a 50:22 that Scotland captain Sione Tuipulotu called a gut punch, then the sensational match-winning try that defied physics, followed by a 45-meter penalty that sealed the All Blacks’ 120-year unbeaten record against the Scots. “You know he’s going to inject something,” Robertson said. “He’s little but he’s tough.” Asked about his acrobatic try in the corner with Scots all over him, McKenzie said, “Just lucky.”

Closers not chokers

A year ago, England suffered Groundhog Day defeats to Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, squandering winning positions and losing three straight at home for the first time in 18 years. Those days are long gone. England ended its closing-time problems in February in the Six Nations with consecutive one-point wins over eventual champion France and Scotland. Argentina was dispatched by a last-gasp try in San Juan in July, and this month Australia and Fiji have been absorbed and overcome. Jamie George, the England captain in 2024, said after beating Fiji, “This team has come under a bit of criticism in tight games, certainly under my reign as captain. I think what we did really well was we had composure and clarity in the huddle. We’re still on the early part of the curve of becoming the team we want to be. We do have an end goal of winning the World Cup but at the same time we are aware we need to be a significantly better team in order to do that.” England’s nine-test winning streak is its longest in eight years. Next up are the All Blacks, who haven’t lost to England at Twickenham in 12 years. “We’re starting to learn to win,” England flanker Tom Curry said. “I suppose you have to go through those tough times to learn what it’s really like to learn to win. This year’s Six Nations was a turning point. The lads over the summer carried that on (in Argentina) and it feels like we’ve got some genuine momentum.”

No more moral victories

Another heartbreaking loss to New Zealand, the third on Gregor Townsend’s watch, prompted the Scotland coach to say, “We need to make the next step.” But its valid to ask whether Scotland will ever make that next step under Townsend. One of Scotland’s greatest players, he took over the national team as coach in 2017. He’s made Scotland exciting and uploaded 12 players into the British and Irish Lions this year but the national team’s longest-tenured coach in the professional era hasn’t collected many trophies. Scotland has hovered around fourth place in his eight Six Nations. Notable wins over England and France have been offset by a 0-11 record against Ireland. Townsend also couldn’t get Scotland out of the pool stages at the 2019 and 2023 Rugby World Cups. Along with being 0-3 against the All Blacks, he’s 0-4 against South Africa. When Townsend’s contract was extended in September by a year to the 2027 World Cup, Scotland bosses David Nucifora and Alex Williamson said more of the same results were unacceptable. However, they believed he deserved more chances and were giving him full-time high-performance help in phsyio, nutrition and various coaching. In October, Townsend started a part-time gig with Austria-based Red Bull that included advising Newcastle club on strategy and philosophy. Townsend sees an upside in his coaching development and has promised it will not conflict with his work in Scotland.

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AP rugby: https://apnews.com/hub/rugby

Foster Niumata, The Associated Press