Rivalry revived in titanic contest

After copping a record caning, Springboks show All Blacks what they are capable of

Another character-building victory for the All Blacks in which they emerged from the good, the bad and the ugly.

Probably losing Nehe MilnerSkudder for the season, a 50 minute first half, a poor red card to Damian de Allende and a sublime test match. What more could you ask?

In South Africa, they say “lekker” to describe something this good. Once his heart rate settled, All Blacks coach Steve Hansen couldn’t help admiring what he witnessed at Newlands.

“That game could’ve gone either way. We’ll take that and go and have a quiet beer with the Boks,” Hansen said after the 25-24 win in Cape Town. “What we saw was if everyone is in the right mindset, the Boks are a very good team. What it showed us is we’ve got to be in the right mindset, otherwise we’re vulnerable. That’s the same with every team.

“There’s a lot of good things in it. We’ll go away and grow and learn even more about ourselves. That seems to be the song we’re singing this year but it’s not a bad song.”

Indeed, in a match where the Springboks used their big ball carriers — the brilliantly brutal Malcolm Marx, Steven Kitshoff and Eben Etzebeth — to get a roll on and grow in self-belief, the All Blacks survived their toughest test since the Lions series.

This is exactly what we expect from this great rivalry.

On the back of the 57-0 hiding in Albany, many thought this would be another comfortable victory. It was anything but. With Milner-Skudder dislocating his shoulder and Beauden Barrett exiting after a head knock, both in the first half, the All Blacks needed Lima Sopoaga, David Havili and Damian McKenzie to step up in a cauldron of duress.

Sopoaga showed immense composure to slot crucial kicks. McKenzie scored a late try which turned the match with one jink and a 50m burst of speed. Between the pair, they have fewer than 20 tests.

Hansen clearly wasn’t happy with all aspects of his team’s performance, noting they should have kicked the ball out rather than playing on for 10 added minutes at the end of the first half. That completely changed the picture of how he planned to use his substitutes. But he lauded their courage and character after being forced to make 52 more tackles (144 in total) than the Boks.