Loftus Versfeld: A fortress the All Blacks know how to conquer

The All Blacks head into their third game of Castle Double Malt Rugby's Greatest Rivalry tour with two contrasting wins under their belt. They followed up a hard fought win over the Stormers with a 54-0 triumph over the Sharks in Durban, in a match affected by some seriously inclement conditions.

The weather had taken a turn for the worse over the whole country earlier in the week, with snow falling in some areas. Mercifully that’s not the case in the Johannesburg/Pretoria region, although it’s still low single digits for the temperature.

Dave Rennie’s side is staying in Johannesburg until game day, with the trip up to Loftus Versfeld taking around an hour. They’ll face a Bulls side that’s predicted to be of similar quality to the Stormers, given that both teams finished with near identical regular season records in the URC.

Assistant coach Tana Umaga said that there’s an emphasis on two key areas: keeping the up tempo game plan and players pushing for test spots.

“It’s just getting used to that style of footy, their ability to see space, their work off the ball,” said Umaga today.

“We want to speed the game up. We can hear the public saying ‘we love the game you’re playing, it’s great to see running rugby’...our game’s a great game when it’s played in the right spirit.”

With the first test just nine days away, tension is building as Rennie puts together his side to run out on Ellis Park.

“If they want to play test matches against South Africa, they’ve got to be at their best. We’ve got to make sure we’re giving them that opportunity,” said Umaga.

Historically, those opportunities have been captured, with the All Blacks having many iconic images taken of them. Colin Meads bursting upfield with the ball in one hand, Dave Gallaher leading out The Originals, David Kirk and Richie McCaw holding the World Cup aloft.

But there’s one that’s synonymous with a certain generation, it’s of the final whistle of the test match played at Loftus Versfeld in 1996. It shows a legendary group of players - Fitzpatrick, Brooke, Marshall, Wilson - celebrating what they’d just achieved. A test series win in South Africa, the same goal as the All Blacks in the Republic right now.

History of the world famous Loftus Versfeld Stadium

Loftus is in Pretoria, the executive capital of South Africa and home of the famous Northern Transvaal union. The stadium holds 52,000 and has a well earned reputation as having one of the most passionate fanbases in the country, who are instantly recognisable with the wearing of bull horns and often nose rings. 

Along with the altitude of the Gauteng region, rock hard field and quality of the Springbok sides the All Blacks have played there, you’d be forgiven for thinking Loftus has historically been a tough nut to crack. However, the reality is quite the opposite.

In fact, you have to go back to 1976 to find the last time the All Blacks lost at Loftus. They have a 12 win, three loss record there, which includes five test wins over the Springboks including a 52-16 demolition job in 2003. That 80 percent record is ironically better than at Hnry Stadium in Wellington, which currently stands at 76 percent.

This will be the first time the All Blacks have played the Bulls, with tours in the past pitting them against Northern Transvaal. That side famously defeated the All Blacks 29-27 in 1976, however, there was one other very significant fixture that occurred on the 1960 tour. The South African Combined Services were a side made up of soldiers and airmen, with one SAAF member making his debut.

That player was Frederik ‘Frik’ du Preez, who would go on to dominate Springbok rugby for the next decade. Du Preez was a larger than life character, who is best compared to Meads in the stature of how he is regarded by the South African rugby community. He was voted South Africa’s greatest player of the 20th century, and was part of two Springbok series-winning sides against the All Blacks.

Like the All Blacks in 1996, du Preez is famous for one iconic Loftus image. In the first test of the 1970 series, photographer Wessel Oosthuizen captured a flying du Preez collecting Chris Laidlaw around the neck as the All Black halfback struggled to clear the ball from a ruck. Du Preez’s other hand is clenched in a fist and making contact with Laidlaw’s face, somewhat exaggerating the overall intent of the tackle but nonetheless giving a perfect snapshot of just how brutal the series and rivalry was.

There is one other iconic image of Loftus, although it’s certainly held in a different regard from the ‘96 triumph or du Preez’s aggression. It came back in 1999, during a Super 12 match between the Bulls and Crusaders.

The 11th-placed Bulls had somehow managed to fight their way to 28-27 lead over the defending champions with time fast running out. But they made the costly mistake of allowing a midfield scrum and opportunity for Andrew Mehrtens to kick a drop goal, which sailed through the rarified high veldt air and between the sticks for a classic snatch-victory-from-the-jaws-of-defeat moment.

Mehrtens, who had up until then cultivated a harmless boy-next-door image due to his slight frame and outsourcing of defensive duties, then turned to the Loftus crowd and raised his middle fingers. The gesture instantly became notorious, leading many to wonder just what had happened to elicit such an action.

Years later, halfback Justin Marshall revealed that the crowd had been particularly vocal during a sideline conversion attempt.

“They were absolutely giving it to him. He missed the kick, so they all laughed and jeered,” Marshall told Supersport.

“For him then to suffer through that…then we got one last chance a couple of minutes later, bang. So he went straight back to where that kick was and gave it to them, ‘ha ha, he who laughs last laughs loudest’”

The All Blacks will be hoping for a slightly less stressful end to their game against the Bulls, which serves as the final warm up act before the highly anticipated first test.