A first half horror show saw the Springboks get a massive setback in their Rugby World Cup preparations as they slumped to a poor 35-20 loss to the All Blacks at Mount Smart stadium in Auckland.
The first half can easily be described as the worst performance by the Bok side under the Rassie Erasmus-Jacques Nienaber axis and raised way too many questions for comfort less than nine weeks out from the Rugby World Cup as the defending champions looked lost for the first 20 minutes, and struggled to recover.
They eventually managed to add some respectability via the bomb squad appearing early in the second half, but at the end of the game they were solidly beaten, and their aura as a great forward side was dented somewhat by a masterful All Black performance.
The first 20 minutes was a horror show of note - the Boks couldn’t do anything right, had no ball and missed 17 tackles as the complete opposite happened for the All Blacks. Every ball stuck for them and every contestable kick resulted in a positive outcome.
TACTICAL KICKING MASTERCLASS
The kicking game deserves some mention here - the All Blacks delivered a master class on attacking kicking in the conditions and for most of the game the Boks looked poor at fielding the kicks, as the chasers won almost every contest.
By the time they had regained their composure the Boks were 17-0 down and needed a herculean effort to fight their way back into the game. Few sides give the All Blacks that sort of lead - especially in New Zealand - and live to tell the tale.
The Boks emerged early in the second half and looked a lot more composed - after a host of substitutions were made but it was always going to be a difficult task to haul the All Blacks in on their home turf in front of a partisan crowd.
The Boks did score twice to give themselves a chance but fell away in the end as the tactical nuance of the home side took over to balloon the scoreline.
So where does that leave the Springboks just two games into the Castle Lager Rugby Championship. The shortened version of the tournament means the All Blacks will surely take the title now, and underlines the difference in class between New Zealand and Australia and how much work the Boks still have to do.
WAKE UP CALL
It also was a timely wake-up call for the Boks that they can’t rely on the same copy and paste preparation to get them to the World Cup. In 2019 this fixture was a draw and gave them a massive boost going into the tournament. Saturday’s loss was, by contrast, a massive setback and raised questions.
For one, there are massive question-marks above the heads of several players - especially as the Boks have backed the starting line-up as their best choice. It isn’t something to panic about but this was a reminder that the starting selection may not be as settled as many people think.
It may have been the emotion surrounding Eben Etzebeth’s family tragedy, but the game also underlined how the team missed Siya Kolisi - both in the tramlines and in the dogwork around the ruck.
It also raised questions about goalkicking, as the Boks shifted between Faf de Klerk and Cheslin Kolbe, with Damian Willemse hardly booting the ball all game - and midfielders Damiain de Allende and Lukhanyo Am doing most of the backline kicking on attack.
CONCERNS RAISED
The Boks will point to the fact that they eventually lost by 15 points - after conceding 17 early on - and while it is true that the damage was done there, it was precisely the start that raises concerns ahead of the Rugby World Cup.
It was the same at Ellis Park last season against the All Blacks and against France on the end of year tour. While that doesn’t necessarily point to a trend, it does raise some concerns ahead of a tough World Cup.
Naturally the Bok management will be working hard behind the scenes and won’t be at all happy with the performance, and it is likely that some hard words will fall over the coming weeks. This game was always going to be difficult but the Boks will have to acknowledge they made it incredibly difficult by their own mistakes rather than the brilliance of the opposition.
The biggest question for the Boks over the next few weeks is how quickly they can regain their composure and get their confidence back - this will be key against Argentina in a fortnight’s time.
MASSIVE START
The start that everyone will want to forget was massive for the All Blacks and the opening salvo - all four and a half minutes - was a rugby concerto that the All Blacks have perfected. While the Boks slugged with them all the way, eventually the missed tackles and soft shoulders counted, and Aaron Smith took Will Jordan’s pass to score.
A few minutes later the early start of the game Shannon Frizzell capped a monster performance with a try. With a Richiie Mo’unga penalty the Boks were suddenly 17-0 behind.
They looked rattled. They looked shell-shocked. And nothing they did went right. To see a Springbok side not take the ball through a few phases in the opening half hour is unheard of, but this was the tale of the opening salvos of the game.
TMO DENIED
Eventually they started to make inroads and the forwards started to resurrect their chances.
They were almost rewarded, but denied by the TMO, who judged Kolbe to have knocked the ball on in the in-goal area when it looked he had grounded the ball from a cross kick which Beauden Barrett fumbled. It was an incredibly close call, but as with most of the calls in the first half, it went against the Boks.
A Faf de Klerk penalty was cancelled out just before halftime by Mo’unga and the scoreline was 20-3 at the break.
The emergence of the Bok bomb squad earlier than expected brought some stability and saw the Boks start to get parity and even win some of the exchanges. And they were almost immediately rewarded when Malcolm Marx went over at the back of a rolling maul.
Kolbe scored a stunner of a try - which came from a seven phase attack and a beautiful floated pass by Willie le Roux, with the winger diving over Rieko Ioane to score in the corner.
At that stage, at 23-15 the game was still in the balance, but the All Blacks ripped that away shortly afterwards with a beautifully worked chip into the corner for Jordan to score.
A late try by Mo’unga settled the result, with Smith’s try troubling the scorers late in the game to make the scoreline more respectable.
SCORERS
Springboks - tries: Malcolm Marx, Cheslin Kolbe, Kwagga Smith. Conversion: Cheslin Kolbe. Penalty: Faf de Klerk.
All Blacks - tries: Aaron Smith, Shannon Frizzell, Will Jordan, Richie Mo’unga. Conversions: Mo’unga (3). Penalties: Mo’unga (3).