For the first time in 75 years the Springboks recorded their fourth win in succession against their great foes.

From the record Twickenham defeat and the World Cup final last year to back-to-back victories over Scott Robertson’s All Blacks in South Africa in the last two weeks, the Springboks underlined their world champion status.

The Rugby Championship and Freedom Cup trophies, the latter held by the All Blacks for the past 15 years, are the Springboks to savour. Not one member of this Springboks team has touched the treasured Freedom Cup before today.

In another tense, tight test in Cape Town that featured four yellow cards, the All Blacks had ample opportunity to knock the Boks off their perch but they instead wilted under pressure to fall to their third defeat in their last four tests.

Damian McKenzie missed two crucial penalties – the second from right in front in the 72nd minute – as the All Blacks failed to score a point in the final quarter for the fourth test in a row, despite significantly reshaping the bench this week.

The All Blacks led 9-3 after a dominant first half but, in familiar fashion to last week’s defeat at Ellis Park, the Boks surged back to seize control of the contest with 10 unanswered points.

Replacement hooker Malcolm Marx claimed the decisive try – with seven minutes remaining as the Boks outscored the All Blacks two tries to none. Inspirational Boks captain Siya Kolisi, playing through the pain of a broken nose, scored the other try.

The inability to close out this test was twofold for the All Blacks. First they failed to capitalise on a yellow card for Springboks fullback Willie le Roux for his attempted intercept.

With another one-man advantage to exploit, mistakes proved costly for the All Blacks. Scott Barrett dropped the ball with the All Blacks building pressure deep in the Boks half, and a lineout transfer from Ardie Savea went wrong.

With the Boks then applying pressure the All Blacks, just as they did last week in the closing stages, conceded a yellow card with Tyrel Lomax, at the backend of a huge 73-minute shift from the starting tighthead prop, dispatched for obstructing Cheslin Kolbe.

The All Blacks were courageous in many aspects but their lack of accuracy and composure proved costly – and their record under Robertson this year now slides to four wins and three losses.

For the second week in a row Tupou Vaa’i was the standout in the All Blacks pack. At the lineout, breakdown, with ball in hand and on defence the Chiefs lock was everywhere. Codie Taylor was on par with another superb stand. Wallace Sititi and Jordie Barrett produced strong performances, too.

While the changes to promote Cortez Ratima and Sititi added the desired pace and ball carrying, moving Will Jordan to fullback didn’t bring the desired attacking spark.

The All Blacks back three, with Mark Tele’a, Jordan and Sevu Reece committing errors, didn’t deal with the Springboks aerial bombardment well which increasingly allowed the locals to inflict their favoured squeeze tactics.

Seven days on from Ellis Park, this rematch featured contrasting approaches at its core.

The All Blacks, with Ratima promoted to start at halfback, embraced attacking pace, tempo and patience. Their accuracy wasn’t always on point but they consistently stressed the Springboks defence through speed of pass, using the width, strong ball carries and quick recycling.

The Springboks, meanwhile, reverted to their conservative tactics. Having recalled experienced playmaker Handre Pollard, the Boks frequently peppered the air with high kicks from the pocket while trying to slow pace to a set piece grind.

Springboks loose forward Jasper Wiese copped the first yellow card for tackling Ratima without the ball following a Taylor bust. Reece then cancelled out the All Blacks one-man advantage with his yellow card for a clumsy collision in the air.

As they were last week, defensively the All Blacks were organised and aggressive. Sam Cane was relentless in the collisions and Scott Barrett brought a prominent presence to the breakdown to win two penalties.

With ball in hand, in his maiden test start at blindside flanker, Sititi was a revelation by injecting notable impact on the charge.

The Boks missed 26 missed tackles in the first half – 37 in the match – and yet somehow the All Blacks couldn’t cross their line.

Battered and bruised, the All Blacks will return home with their final quarter failings hanging over their heads.

Two chances to knock off the Boks have been squandered, leaving the Bledisloe Cup as the All Blacks’ only remaining trophy of note and Robertson under pressure to deliver a response.

All Blacks 12: Damian McKenzie pen 4

Springboks 16: Siya Kolisi, Malcolm Marx tries, Handre Pollard pen, con, Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu pen

HT: 3-9

All you need to know as Scott Robertson’s side look to bounce back against the Boks.

All Blacks v South Africa history

Played 107

All Blacks won 62

South Africa won 41

Draws 4

The All Blacks will play at Cape Town Stadium for the first time, a venue that was used for the 2010 Fifa World Cup. In their 11 previous visits to Cape Town, dating back to the 1928 tour, they have played at Newlands Stadium where New Zealand have an impressive 7-3 record against South Africa. They also thrashed England in the 1995 World Cup semifinal at Newlands.

Their previous visit to Cape Town was in 2017, a 25-24 victory in which Damian McKenzie had a standout performance.

Sunday’s 27-31 defeat at Ellis Park was the All Blacks’ third in 12 months against South Africa, including the warm-up test thrashing at Twickenham and the Rugby World Cup final.

The last time New Zealand lost three straight to the Springboks was in 2009, after Tri Nations defeats in Bloemfontein and Durban were followed by a 32-29 loss in Hamilton.

The All Blacks haven’t lost four in a row to their great rivals since 1949, when the Springboks won the test series 4-0. That was part of a six-test losing streak after the Boks won the last two matches of the 1937 series.

All Blacks v South Africa line-ups

The All Blacks have made four changes to their squad from the first test against the Springboks at Ellis Park.

For the second test in Cape Town, Wallace Sititi will make his first start at blindside flanker with Ethan Blackadder out with a hamstring injury.

Beauden Barrett moves to the bench as backs cover with Anton Lienert-Brown, who can both provide options in multiple positions.

Another big selection call has been made at halfback, with Cortez Ratima making his second test start in place of TJ Perenara, who also moves to the bench.

The New Zealand front row remains unchanged with Tyrel Lomax, Codie Taylor and Tamaiti Williams all impressing in the first test.

Sam Darry gets another chance to make his mark in the All Blacks locking pecking order and Luke Jacobson will be tasked with covering the loose forward impact, with both named on the bench.

The Springboks initially delayed their team naming with injuries to key players deciding how their match-day squad shapes up. Captain Siya Kolisi has been cleared to play after suffering a cheek injury at Ellis Park. Handre Pollard returns to the first-five jersey, with Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu moving to the bench.

Eben Etzebeth returns also to the starting lineup, after coming on from the bench in the first test.

Canan Moodie and Jaden Hendrikse make their first appearances, on the wing and at halfback respectively, in the Springbok jersey since the 2023 Rugby World Cup.

All Blacks: 15. Will Jordan, 14. Sevu Reece, 13. Rieko Ioane, 12. Jordie Barrett, 11. Mark Tele’a, 10. Damian McKenzie, 9. Cortez Ratima, 8. Ardie Savea, 7. Sam Cane, 6. Wallace Sititi, 5. Tupou Vaa’i, 4. Scott Barrett (c), 3. Tyrel Lomax, 2. Codie Taylor, 1. Tamaiti Williams

Reserves: 16. Asafo Aumua, 17. Ofa Tu’ungafasi, 18. Fletcher Newell, 19. Sam Darry, 20. Luke Jacobson, 21. TJ Perenara, 22. Beauden Barrett, 23. Anton Lienert-Brown

South Africa: 15. Willie le Roux, 14. Canan Moodie, 13. Jesse Kriel 12. Damian de Allende, 11. Cheslin Kolbe, 10. Handre Pollard, 9. Grant Williams, 8. Jasper Wiese, 7. Pieter-Steph du Toit, 6. Siya Kolisi, 5. Ruan Nortje, 4. Eben Etzebeth, 3.Frans Malherbe, 2. Bongi Mbonambi, 1. Ox Nche

Reserves: 16. Malcolm Marx, 17. Gerhard Steenekamp, 18. Vincent Koch, 19. Kwagga Smith, 20. Elrigh Louw, 21. Jaden Hendrikse, 22. Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, 23. Lukhanyo Am

All Blacks v South Africa referee

Matthew Carley of England will hold the whistle as he did in San Diego when the All Blacks faced Fiji earlier this year. Carley’s first tier-one international was between the All Blacks and Scotland in 2017. He was in charge of the Twickenham test last year when the Springboks thrashed the All Blacks ahead of the World Cup.

All Blacks v South Africa TAB odds

All Blacks: $2.25 Draw: $16 South Africa: $1.55

All Blacks v South Africa – how to follow the action

For live commentary of All Blacks v South Africa , join Elliott Smith on Newstalk ZB, Gold Sport and iHeartRadio.

You can watch the game on Sky Sport 1 and live streaming on Sky Sport Now.

You can also find live updates at nzherald.co.nz.