This was an inferior side being beaten by an exceptional one

There is no Springbok rugby positive to take from getting zero and conceding 57. It’s also not a result simply to be forgotten. A Kiwi mate, a few years ago, told me that the All Blacks and Springboks had long stopped being a rivalry and it was more a case of serious assault to the body and mind of every South African supporter.

This mate said the difference between the All Blacks and Boks supporters was that we in SA remembered the one we won and they (Kiwi supporters) remembered the one they lost. He has a point because they’ve only lost one of the last 11 against the Boks, and SA have only won one of the last five at home against the All Blacks.

Saturday’s 57-0 is one that both sets of supporters will remember.

The Kiwis will remember it for the day that they perhaps buried the amateur-era rivalry that saw the Springboks superior in match-ups. The Springboks, before SA’s return from international rugby isolation in 1992, had won 21 and lost 16 to the All Blacks. Subsequently, they’ve won 14 from 52 and they have conceded 50-plus points to the All Blacks three times, two of them in the last two Tests.

It’s been brutal and, while last season’s 57-15 defeat in Durban was painful, it was halfexpected, given the state of the Springboks. The South Africans had lost to Ireland at home, lost to Australia and Argentina away and been thumped in New Zealand.

This time around, there was no fear of a blowout, though it was generally accepted the All Blacks would win.

The Boks were in good shape and seemed in a good space. They had won five and drawn one of their last six Tests. They looked well organised, with confidence, and there was reason to feel good about their progress.

They had improved from a record world ranking low of seventh at the end of 2016 to the lot more appropriate and acceptable third of a week ago.

France had been dismissed easily, Argentina was brushed aside and the 23-all draw against the Wallabies in Australia was the best Springbok result in Australasia in the past four years.

There was reason for optimism and there was good cause to have an expectation of this team. I had the Springboks to be competitive against the All Blacks in New Zealand. I thought they were good enough to come within 10 points.

The Wallabies, despite the hammering in Sydney, were two minutes away from winning in Dunedin and Argentina were competitive with the All Blacks for an hour in New Zealand.

In 2016, the Springboks were losing to Italy and Argentina. In 2017, they were beating France and Argentina. They had improved, but the improvement can now be measured as apples vs apples and pears vs pears.

The Springboks have not advanced at all against the All Blacks and inexperience and youthfulness cannot be used as an excuse. Only two Springboks from Albany started in the 57-15 defeat in Durban. The converse is only five All Blacks who started in Durban also started in Albany.

The All Blacks are every bit as youthful as the Springboks, especially among their backs. There has been a huge player transition in the All Blacks since the World Cup final victory in 2015. On average, only five of the All Blacks World Cupwinning starting XV are regular starters in 2017.

Springbok coach Allister Coetzee has been taken apart on social media, but Brendan Venter, Franco Smith and Johann van Graan have been the coaching axis in 2017 and up until Albany, have been credited with the transformation of the Springboks. To single out Coetzee only in defeat is wrong.

The coaches, as a collective, got it wrong against the All Blacks and the players in which they invested were not good enough.

This wasn’t a bad day at the office; this was an inferior team taking a beating from an exceptional side.

The Springbok back three, individually and collectively, are not good enough if the goal is to be the best in the world. The halfbacks are not good enough, the back-row combination that started was not good enough, and the tight five as a unit isn’t quite as good as they were made to look against France and Argentina. The midfield has been hit and miss.

Victories against teams ranked eighth and 10th in the world were good for morale, but those victories duped us because it was all we had as a measurement.

Albany is a reality check from which there is no escape and from which there should be no desire to want a quick escape. To forget this result is to forget that the Springboks can ever again be a threat to the All Blacks.

● Keohane is the founder of www.keo.co.za and a former Springbok communications manager. Follow him on twitter.com/mark_keohane