All Blacks find another gear to kill off Boks
At times it is hard not to liken the All Blacks to a cruel cat that likes to toy with a bird with a busted wing.
Because for the first 50 minutes of the test at AMI Stadium in Christchurch last night the Springboks were in this contest. And then the All Blacks applied a stranglehold to power away to win 41-13 and surge away to win the Rugby Championship after just four games.
Sound familiar? Yes, that’s right, Argentina were competitive for about the same amount of time when they met the All Blacks in Hamilton a week ago and eventually got spanked 57-22.
What happened on a balmy Canterbury night in front of almost 21,000 fans was this. The Springboks were in the fight at 15-10 early in the second half, when the crowd, no doubt to the disgust of the purists, signalled their frustration by executing a Mexican wave.
That seemed to set the All Blacks off. Perhaps they don’t like the human waves, either. Ben Smith, Ardie Savea, Sam Whitelock and TJ Perenara scored unanswered tries as the Springboks failed to counter the powerful All Blacks scrum or the adventurous counter-attack.
Two of the best for the New Zealanders were the fellows in the jerseys numbered two and nine. Coles and Smith. Say it fast and it sounds like a department store, but, really, it could also be just as apt for a demolition firm given the way they helped take the Springboks apart.
Hooker Coles’ issued the final transfers for three tries, the last, a long flat pass to Whitelock, was a cracker. Halfback Aaron Smith, before he was replaced by Perenara in the second spell, also kept the momentum going with his crisp transfers to a backline that stands so flat.
Playmaker Beauden Barrett wasn’t as hot as he was against the Argies, but even if he isn’t busting the defensive line the problem for opponents is they cannot afford to drift and that sucks in defenders.
Don’t be too quick to put the boot into the Boks.
They tried, but simply were good enough.
Playmaker Elton Jantjies defended well, and he will be sore for a few days after being forced to block big ball runners, but makes far too many errors. And that really hurt the tourists.
One concern for the All Blacks was the sight of flanker Jerome Kaino leaving the park with what appeared to be a shoulder injury.
Within a couple of minutes, tries were traded midway through the first spell; Bryan Habana ran a terrific not angle to accept Warren Whiteley’s pass as the Springboks struck first, but they barely had time to stop trading high-fives because Israel Dagg tipped a bucket of cold water over their celebrations with a five-pointer of his own.
The seeds for veteran wing Habana’s try were sown deep downfield, the initial thrust provided by Johan Goosen, who earns his Euros playing alongside Dan Carter in Paris, and then PieterSteph du Toit.
You could imagine the sirens going off between the All Blacks’ players ears as they scrambled back, and Habana ensured they paid for their early defensive mishap by not shutting down Goosen near the ruck.
Which made what happened next incredibly painful if you were a Springboks supporter. For reasons only he will be able to explain Jantjies fumbled Barrett’s long kick-off.
From the scrum, Barrett hit the line hard, Smith switched the point of the attack by unloading a long flat pass to Coles and Dagg didn’t blow his chance.