In the end it was maybe skipper for the night Luke Jacobson who best summed up Tuesday night’s second Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry tour match in Durban.
The All Blacks won 54-0 against the Hollywoodbets Sharks, hitting their straps in the second half after, if not quite an error ridden first half but certainly a not particularly impactful one, with coach Dave Rennie rightly afterwards pinpointing the slow start as an area of concern. A slow start could be fatal against the Springboks at Ellis Park on 22 August.
In a game played on a wet night with puddles on the Hollywoodbets Sharks field not quite completely reminiscent of the scenes at this venue before the 1995 Rugby World Cup semifinal that nearly got cancelled because of the weather but nonetheless providing a memory jolt for those of us who were there, the New Zealanders scored eight tries without reply.
The All Blacks silence the Sharks to go 2/2 in #RugbysGreatestRivalry 🇳🇿👏#SSRugby pic.twitter.com/x9DtFBY2f7
— SuperSport Rugby (@SSRugby) August 11, 2026
And yet for those who may not know it was a game that needed to be put in context. Given the injuries and absence of Springboks, the Sharks team was probably closer to the club’s C team than B team, and if it were not for the fact that it was understood to be unavoidable, playing so many inexperienced players together might have come across as a bit naive from coach JP Pietersen.
NOT THE SHARKS OF OLD
Kiwis might remember the Sharks from having some highly competitive years in Super Rugby, but this was not a team in the league of the side that beat Crusaders with 14 men in Christchurch in 2014 or for that matter lost in agonising fashion to the Vodacom Bulls in the 2007 final here in Durban.
That final at Kings Park was packed to the rafters. Weather may have played a role for the KZN supporters are known for being fussy about wet and cold, and there was plenty of that about, but Tuesday night’s game was a million miles from the 2007 experience. The official attendance was 14 700, which put the turnout in the same ball-park as the turnout in Cape Town for a Carling Currie Cup match between the Stormers XXIII and the Sharks XV 11 days ago.
NONU’S IMPACT MAY HAVE BROUGHT SMALL REALITY CHECK
It meant that apart from Ma’a Nonu’s response to the All Black haka, with the 103 match former All Black centre, playing as a replacement for the Sharks, giving the traditional challenge the respect it deserves and demands from the playing team’s countrymen if they happen to be in opposition.
Pitchside for one of the most special moments in rugby 👏
— SuperSport Rugby (@SSRugby) August 11, 2026
Ma’a Nonu steps forward to perform his own Haka at the Shark Tank against the All Blacks 🇳🇿#SSRugby | #RugbysGreatestRivalry pic.twitter.com/stiS47ETlI
Late in the game Nonu came on and made an immediate impact by smoking the New Zealand flyhalf Ruben Love and breaking through some tackles, something the 44-year-old’s teammates struggled to do.
It showed the All Blacks what they might have been up against as an alternative and was also a departure from the general feeling on the night of it being nothing more than a low key practice run for the visiting side, who were around two thirds shadow test team.
Jacobson put it all in perspective when, in a post match press conference very different to the one in Cape Town at the start of the tour, where the Kiwis were asked some serious questions, he described it as all a bit of fun.
“It tested the skill set, but I was proud of how we were able to execute in that second half,” he noted. “It’s enjoyable footy as well; you take the opportunity to play in something like that and just have fun,” said Jacobson.
Exactly. The Kiwis were seldom, if ever, stressed, even if Nick Hatton’s young team did make a solid start and might have at least done themselves the favour of taking an early lead by kicking one of the several kickable penalties they were awarded.
EARLY DISCIPLINE AGAIN NOT GOOD
That was one of the low notes for the All Blacks. Although they stabilised later, their discipline early on wasn’t great.
“We’re probably a bit frustrated; in the first 40 we gave away a lot of penalties early and struggled to get our hands on the ball,” said coach Rennie.
“When we did, we looked good, but we didn’t build enough pressure for long enough. The second half was excellent – we kicked really well, were a lot more clinical and continued to defend well. They kicked a lot of ball, which we generally dealt with well.”
Generally but not completely. The Sharks’ kicking was inaccurate and they lacked the intensity shown by the Stormers, who were a more experienced team, and the young Sharks also played some understandably naive rugby (considering their age) that played into All Black hands.
“The conditions made it challenging, but I thought overall we did a pretty good job there, on the back of a solid defensive effort. Look, we’ve got a lot more in us, and we can’t afford to start games like we have in the last two here, so that’ll be a focus for us. But a really positive last 40.
“We’ve got a lot more players who have had good game time,” Rennie added. “There’s good competition for spots, and that’s really important heading into the test series.”
That was quite a statement of the obvious there. It is hard to quibble with eight tries, particularly on an inclement night, but the Sharks are so far below the standard, intensity and physicality that will be brought by the Springboks later in the month that it was easy to wonder how worthwhile the exercise really was for the tourists.
The British and Irish Lions have complained in the past that low key tour games did not help their preparation for series in South Africa and even lulled them into a false sense of security. We will know in 10 days from now at Ellis Park if that will be the case for this trip too.