Hits & Misses: Self-destructive Boks and show-stealing All Blacks

OPINION: After that massively disappointing, shocking really, way in which the Springboks lost the first of four Tests against the All Blacks in the Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry series, the pressure is on them to right their many wrongs that were on display at Ellis Park in the 16-33 drubbing in front of 60,592 fans.

*Also read: Wasteful Boks must address second-half slump

While the first Test was probably the worst one the South Africans could have dropped, it wasn’t naive optimism from Bok boss Rassie Erasmus when he said the defeat wasn’t “catastrophic”; the Boks know how to fight with their backs against the ropes; they simply have to, after all, nobody wants this historic series ending in an anticlimactic draw.

The Springboks will have to win the remaining three matches to prevent that, while New Zealand have a much lighter task of claiming two.

This wasn’t the only match of the weekend, but it was certainly the biggest one.

So, we zoom in on the clash between the sport’s greatest rivals and look at the highs and lows from the first of two meetings in Johannesburg.

Hits:

Jasper Wiese and his one-man show

Absolutely nobody was better than him; he simply had no equal on the field.

The No.8 made 19 carries and 62 metres, double the number of carries of Will Jordan, who made the most for New Zealand (nine), but it was the pure carnage of those runs and his post-contact metres that stood out.

He was a bulldozer in open play as his runs drove the All Blacks back, and he ran right over them a few times, while he also won the Boks their first penalty.

With all the questions the Springboks’ performance produced, him starting at the back of the scrum wasn’t one of them.

Continues below…

Brilliant Bok scrum…and the All Blacks cracking the code

This was just about the only area that really worked for the home team. Until it didn’t.

The scrum was always going to be the one area where the All Blacks had more to prove given the Springboks’ authority at the set-piece, and while the hosts were dominant at the shoving battle, having won two scrum penalties on New Zealand’s feed and four on their own, they had precious little to show for it.

The hosts led 16-12 and opted for a fourth successive scrum five metres from the All Blacks’ try line in the 55th minute, which saw the tourists win their first scrum penalty of the game.

Whether it was an attempt to crack the Kiwis’ resolve by repeatedly dominating them in a certain area or a stubborn refusal to break away from the script, it just didn’t work.

Whatever their reasons for not going for the corner or even taking the three points, their scrum could have been a devastating weapon – it was one – but it could have been the ultimate platform for points and converting the dominance they had shown until that point.

The Bok scrum may have been a hit, but their failure to fully utilise it was a major miss, and the All Blacks deserve credit for disarming them of their one weapon.

All Blacks giving fans the show they deserve

While the Springboks were dismally underwhelming and bland, the All Blacks dug deep to not only survive the 50-plus minutes of onslaught from the South Africans, during which they dominated territory and possession and smashed them physically, but held their own with resolute defence and took their chances when the opportunity presented itself. They showed rugby intelligence.

Wing Josh Moorby’s try was the perfect example of the New Zealanders just executing the basics better and thinking on their feet, and while that was before the Bok problems started, it just showed how inherent their support play is.

Overall, New Zealand had just 49 percent possession and 40 percent territory, but they had a tackle completion rate of 86 percent to the Boks’ 78, won 14 turnovers to five, and lost 14 to 23.

Spectators deserved a show, and while the Springboks failed in the main character role, the All Blacks delivered as they snapped the Boks’ 12-match winning streak in style.

Misses:

Boks failing to capitalise

The Springboks should have won on paper, that much we have established, but the way in which they lost the game was, unfortunately, the focal point.

World rankings don’t count for much, especially not if you have a trophy cabinet like the South Africans’, but given the chances they had, losing like that was embarrassing.

Prior to this game, the Springboks averaged 5.5 points per 22-metre entry; in this game – from the 12 entries they made – they scored just once for a conversion average of a poor 0.91.

The All Blacks, meanwhile, averaged 3.67.

The Boks’ handling errors and other lapses in the red zone proved fatal, while they just couldn’t adapt or make any room for their sharpened attack.

Dismal.

Collective Bok flop

The Bok stars just didn’t pull through when it mattered most.

Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu was out of sorts with a performance that in no way was an improvement on his rusty showing in Buenos Aires. Yes, he needs game time, and he can single-handedly change a game when he’s on, but this performance just wasn’t it.

Grant Williams was uncharacteristically slow, and other than speeding things up slightly, Cobus Reinach did no better when he came on and got a yellow card to boot; Jesse Kriel disappeared once he shifted to the wing, and Cheslin Kolbe was so deprived of action before he left the field that he was limited to kicking at goal, aerial contests, and defence. Pieter-Steph du Toit also appeared much too quiet as captain.

There were certainly standouts, like Damian Willemse producing yet another fine showing, especially under the high ball, Malcolm Marx’s energy in a losing cause, and Ox Nche and particularly Wilco Louw’s scrummaging tutorial, but for the most part, the Boks just didn’t pitch up, and they looked out of place in such a massive Test.

All Blacks-induced stoppages

The irony of the All Blacks and their “slowing the game down” narrative is that if anybody was guilty of that on the day, it was them.

Sure, it wasn’t in the form of any delaying tactics or even intentional, but all the penalties they conceded, especially in their 22, kept Matthew Carley on the whistle.

The All Blacks conceded 14 penalties while the Boks conceded 10. And had the world champions not been their own worst enemy on the day, New Zealand could have been made to pay for that stat.

Their discipline was a major issue during the matches against South Africa’s franchises, and while the Boks have a full house to get in order, the All Blacks have their overall discipline to iron out.