Hits & Misses: Boks' superb adaptation and Rennie's sour comments

OPINION: The Springboks bounced back from their Ellis Park disappointment with a 33-26 victory over the All Blacks at Cape Town Stadium in the second Test of the Rugby Greatest Rivalry series, and with the series now levelled with two Tests to go, it’s game on.

It was a much-improved performance by the hosts, while the New Zealanders’ game revealed some big flaws despite staying in it until the end.

We look at the highs and lows from the match in the Mother City.

Hits:

Brilliant Bok line-out

Given the extent to which the Springboks outplayed the All Blacks at the line-out, it was only fitting that their statement-of-intent opening try was born from the set-piece.

Receiving the kick-off, Jordie Barrett didn’t get proper distance on his clearance, and the hosts came out firing at the resulting line-out and maul, with Jessie Kriel diving over soon afterwards.

Bok veteran Eben Etzebeth was key in South Africa disrupting the Kiwi line-out as they only retained 15 of their 18 throws, while he also bagged a crucial steal at the start of the final quarter.

The home side’s second try was also the result of their harassment of the All Black forwards at the line-out and a strong ensuing maul and, unlike last week, they kept it tidy in open play from there on to get the proper reward for their set-piece dominance.

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Boks’ superb adaptation

The Boks learned from last week, which basically captures their whole performance.

In the first Test, the hosts had a dozen 22-metre entries but scored just once. This week, they had six entries into the All Blacks’ red zone and scored three tries for an average of four points per entry – a much sharper conversion rate than they had at Ellis Park, where they averaged under a point per entry.

The Boks didn’t allow the visitors to disrupt them in the carry again by ripping the ball in tackles, either, while they conversely stifled the New Zealand ball-carriers with their aggressive rush defence and forced them into making errors.

It was also a much-improved showing from starting halfbacks Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu and Cobus Reinach – who was much sharper with his decision-making and kicked well – while the world champions didn’t make the mistake of not taking the points on offer again.

Wing Cheslin Kolbe connected four penalties in addition to his three conversions for a total of 18 points. He kicked three of his four penalty kicks in the second half, which kept the scoreboard ticking for the Boks as they didn’t score any tries after the break.

Pieter-Steph du Toit breaks 100-cap curse

The big man has become the template for big performances in big matches, and he achieved yet another feat in the crunch match by becoming the first Springbok player to defeat the All Blacks in his 100th Test.

Damian de Allende, Percy Montgomery, John Smit, and Jean de Villiers all ran out in their major milestone matches against New Zealand, but Du Toit is the only one to date to add extra glitz to the occasion by being on the winning side.

And what a role he played.

The 34-year-old made the joint second-most tackles in the match, 16, with Etzebeth topping the chart with 18 hits, while he was also a presence at the line-out.

What a way to cap his milestone.

Malcolm Marx and the Boks’ breakdown mastery

The Boks owned the breakdown by a mile in Cape Town.

Superstar hooker Malcolm Marx was at the forefront of their dominance at the ruck as he won three turnovers, while Jesse Kriel secured two and Andre Esterhuizen grabbed a vital one in the final play of the game.

The home team were smart in how they went about their business on the ground, not over-committing but piling on the pressure through their individual potency.

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Misses:

All Blacks’ scrummaging incompetence and Rennie sullying the Springbok scrum

New Zealand’s performance at the scrum was a major miss and their coach’s sour comments after the game were even more off the mark.

The All Blacks coach tried to discredit the Springbok scrum during his post-match press conference, accusing the Bok pack of walking around.

What he should instead be channelling his focus into is his team’s disastrous displays at the set-piece, both their scrum and line-out, and focusing on fixing that instead of trying to underhandedly influence referees to zoom in on the Boks.

All Blacks’ failing to address shortcomings

Their discipline was an issue even in their 33-16 win in the opening Test, and it continued to be a problem at Cape Town Stadium. The Springboks duly punished them this time around with accurate goal-kicking.

The touring side were no match for South Africa in the air, either.

The All Blacks have until now appeared hapless when it comes to diffusing the Boks’ aerial attack.