Try time: Sam Whitelock
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The All Blacks completed an impressive clean sweep in the Rugby Championship on Saturday, overcoming South Africa 32-16 at Soccer City on the outskirts of Johannesburg.
In a performance worthy of their status as the top-ranked team in the world, New Zealand weathered an early storm to overturn a half-time deficit and eventually run out comfortable winners.
The result extends the All Blacks' winning streak to 16 consecutive games, moving them within touching distance of the world record.
The Springboks led 16-12 at the break having dominated for most of the first half but were given a lesson in counter attacking to be outscored two tries to one in the opening stanza.
The All Blacks reversed the trend in the second period, adding two more tries while denying their hosts any points to underline their supremacy.
It was a classic case of shifting momentum - while South Africa started with a bang and ended with a whimper, the Kiwis progressively upped the tempo until there was only one team left in the contest.
The much-vaunted Highveld crowd mirrored their team's effort as they made it very clear to the All Blacks they weren't in Auckland anymore in the early stages but the corridors were filled with fans leaving the stadium with ten minutes left on the clock.
As was the case a week ago, Johan Goosen missed his first two attempts at goal but the hosts would nevertheless open the scoring with a rare sight: A South African try from a set-piece move. Willem Alberts bust through the All Black defence before offloading to Jean de Villiers, who showed off some juggling skills but managed to hold on. Bryan Habana was in space outside his skipper and had an easy run in, scoring behind the posts.
Goosen had no problems with the conversion and could further extend the lead to 10 points at the end of the first quarter when Brodie Retallick was penalised for a dangerous tackle.
The All Blacks had hardly ventured into the South African half but took their first chance to score in typical fashion, with a blistering counter-attack from broken play to send lock Sam Whitelock over in the corner.
If the hosts weren't already alerted to the New Zealand's ability to punish their mistakes, they were given a reminder on 35 minutes. Habana came flying up in search of an intercept, it didn't work, and Hosea Gear ghosted through the gap left in the Bok defensive line before offloading to Aaron Smith, who finished. Dan Carter's conversion gave the visitors a lead that made a mockery of the possession and territory stats.
The Boks were dealt another blow as Goosen was forced off injured but replacement fly-half Elton Jantjies held his nerve with his first kick to put South Africa back in front at 13-12.
Jantjies found the target again from 48 metres with the last act of the half to give the hosts a deserved four-point advantage at the interval.
The All Blacks moved back in front almost immediately after the restart however after Jaco Taute missed a tackle on Israel Dagg, who combined with Kieran Read to set up a try for Ma'a Nonu.
Disorganised defending cost the Boks another try as Conrad Smith touched down to put the visitors ten points clear once Carter had added the easy extras.
Two misses from Jantjies suggested the Boks' woes at the kicking tee were far from finished, prompting De Villiers to turn down a shot at goal in favour of chasing a try. And it nearly paid off, but Habana was not able to hang on when presented with a chance in the corner.
The last quarter was one-way traffic. Carter added a neat drop and a penalty to move his team well clear...in more ways than one.
Man of the Match There were a number of candidates in black but the official award went to Kieran Read, who was once again the ultimate example of a complete number eight as his ball skills matched his contribution in the tight exchanges.
Moment of the match: The All Blacks' second try, scored by Aaron Smith, summed up where these teams are at the moment. An instance of a Springbok trying too hard to do something special was punished by a clinical finish. Give All Blacks scraps, and they will feast!
Villian of the match: The 'fans' who left early.
The scorers:
For South Africa:
Try: Habana
Cons: Goosen
Pens: Goosen, Jantjies 2
For New Zealand:
Tries: Whitelock, A. Smith, Nonu, C. Smith
Cons: Carter 3
Pen: Carter
Drop goal: Carter
Yellow card: Dagg (66th min - offside)
South Africa: 15 Zane Kirchner, 14 Bryan Habana, 13 Jaco Taute, 12 Jean de Villiers (c), 11 Francois Hougaard, 10 Johan Goosen, 9 Ruan Pienaar, 8 Duane Vermeulen, 7 Willem Alberts, 6 Francois Louw, 5 Andries Bekker, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Jannie du Plessis, 2 Adriaan Strauss, 1 Tendai Mtawarira.
Replacements: 16 Tiaan Liebenberg, 17 Coenie Oosthuizen, 18 Flip van der Merwe, 19 Marcell Coetzee, 20 Elton Jantjies, 21 Juan de Jongh, 22 Pat Lambie.
New Zealand: 15 Israel Dagg, 14 Cory Jane, 13 Conrad Smith, 12 Ma'a Nonu, 11 Hosea Gear, 10 Daniel Carter, 9 Aaron Smith, 8 Kieran Read, 7 Richie McCaw (c), 6 Liam Messam, 5 Sam Whitelock, 4 Brodie Retallick, 3 Owen Franks, 2 Andrew Hore, 1 Tony Woodcock.
Replacements: 16 Keven Mealamu, 17 Ben Franks, 18 Luke Romano, 19 Adam Thomson, 20 Piri Weepu, 21 Aaron Cruden, 22 Tamati Ellison.
Referee: Romain Poite (France), Greg Garner (England)
Assistant referees: Shaun Veldsman (South Africa)
By Ross Hastie at Soccer City
Comments
TVaddict says...
@Ramage
Agreed! Looking forward to the Autumn internationals now!
Ka kite ano.
Posted 10:54 09th October 2012
new_j4a says...
@sandal, LOL..."jaffa???" in the cricket sense of the word? Or has your missus been spilling the beans? No worries either way. I'll review the tape stringently.....now that you've brought it to my attention, that many minutes without a penalty against the Boks must be some sort of record and only possible in the post Bakkies era.
@JayStar who says "kapish?" That's like the western province version of the Italian word "capisce" isn't it. Did you get it from your soul mate Fredo in the Godfather?
Posted 10:54 09th October 2012
jontheref says...
@Craig
A good post about the PK's. What other posters need to appreciate is NZ are such a good team, they take advantage of potential PK's, and instead if stopping the game, the ref palys on. Advantage.
Conversely, when NZ are penalised they commit secondary offences toprevent any potential advantage. Don't have the minute, but saw McCaw (who else!) do it at the bottem of a ruck, commentators mentioned how good he was at it! NZ have done this for years, and other teams have to follow to be the best.
As to bias, in minute 66, 18, 8, 7 and 2 commited penalisableoffences, as SA were close to NZ line.
Ref played on, he had made his decision, right or wrong.
As to the tip tackle, itlooked worse than warburtons, but not even a yellow, also same ref. No accusation of bias, but needs looking at.
Rolland was streets ahead of the Arg/Aus ref, who also made a number of mistakes, and was very inconsistent.
Posted 08:53 09th October 2012
Ramage says...
@TVaddict I did pen a lengthy reply (as usual) but unfortunately my PC crapped out and I never got it through. Never mind Id just like to say this no my answers were not facetious but I thought you asked questions you wanted answers to. I gave some of my opinions to your questions. I think we have both crossed the bridge and we can leave behind our animosity as from you questions I found a person interested in the game as I am so lets share our interest for each others benefit but im sure we will disagree from time to time.
By the way I did not call you an alcoholic but said you had posted under the influence lol. (9 pints). We would all be alcoholics if we were under the influence and that was the yardstick.
Never mind we have moved on and my answers to your questions were for real no ulterior methods. Ka kite.
Posted 04:22 09th October 2012
sandal says...
@new-j4a
Sorry, jaffa, I can't work out what words are blocking my postings.
Posted 02:36 09th October 2012
sandal says...
@new_j4a
new_j4a says...
@sandal who says... "In any event, the All Blacks scored four tries before they were granted a single penalty. That is undeniable and it is stunning, the achievement of a truly great team." I do not follow your logic here (lack of logic, perhaps?).
Sorry, I did not see your comment earlier. The posting you quote was the remnant of something more substantial that I could not post.
I mean that for the first 54 minutes, by which time the All Blacks had scored four tries, every penalty/free kick (10 in all) went the Springboks' way, and not one the way of the All Blacks. Now, I don't believe such a penalty count can reflect the discipline of any two teams in any game of rugby ever played.
During the 90s I turned my TV off in an England v France game when the ref, a Scot called McCartney, as I recall, awarded France their second penalty in the 50th minute. That made the count 11-2. France, in a colossal testament to their abilities, were actually leading at that point. Of course, the continuing penalty count ground them down and the British press, with not a mention of that, waxed lyrical on how well England had played.
Let's put aside the rights and wrongs of any of the rulings in the Boks-ABs game. (I can give instances in another posting.) A team that is on the receiving end of such a count is not only conceding points, it is continually having to defend. It is dominated territorially. Conversely, it is denied any attacking platform itself (the first three AB tries came from a long way out). Now, philipjfry, JayStarr and others have commented on how well South Africa played in the first half -- what team wouldn't with such an advantage?
For the All Blacks to score four tries to one while burdened with such a handicap was a phenomenal achievement. The All Blacks of 2007 couldn't overcome the handicap, but this team did.
Posted 02:15 09th October 2012
sandal says...
@JayStarr
You can say what you like, my friend. I agree: I am not, as far as I know, your parent. Perhaps I should not have entered an argument between you and new_j4a. I do enjoy many of your postings. But not all.
Posted 01:44 09th October 2012
bokbfok says...
Firstly, massive well done to the All Blacks and King Ritchie (he deserves that title and can wear it with pride), but i'm afraid he and every other great All Black (past and present), even you Rugby rock star, will one day confess that Jesus is Lord. God bless, now back to the rugby....................
Posted 23:17 08th October 2012
rugby_rockstar says...
I remember when X did Y. Bloomin' awesome that was. :) Cost me £5.99 on the pay per veiw channel though.
Posted 15:18 08th October 2012
new_j4a says...
@APV1, How about
Johann Sebastian Bach
Claude Monet
William Shakespeare
Michelangelo
Richie McCaw
....all these the best of all time? Or perhaps we should wait for him to win the next 3 RCs and the RWC2015? (Hopefully his props will stop kicking him in the chops...a YC offense IMO)
Posted 13:08 08th October 2012
APV1 says...
@ rugby_rockstar - Edam is made backwards...
Posted 12:52 08th October 2012
new_j4a says...
@sandal, I am going to review the game very carefully and try to see it through Kiwi eyes to see if I can catch AR out in some biased application of the Laws. I think I'll start by reviewing all penalties against the ABs and then try to find instances where the Boks should have been penalized. I am the first to admit that this must be one of the longest periods that the Boks have played without giving away a penalty, but I confess that during the game i just put this down to extremely good discipline....perhaps I will find something different when i view without the green tinted glasses on. Not sure why Ross Hastie didn't respond to my question. He's usually very good about this sort of thing.
@Ross, any words of wisdom as to why some posters are having difficulty??
BTW I discovered a few months ago that posting 3 or more asterisks in a row will cause the server to throw up....not sure if this has been fixed yet.
Posted 12:51 08th October 2012
Trinats2 says...
APV1:
Agree and disagree.
Also have in there Tiger Woods, David Campese, Rodger Federer, Pele, Shane Warne and kiwilad.
Brian lara is a true great and a gentleman.
Schumacher ? he drives a fast car ! Why doesn't he do something useful like drive an Ambulance !!!
As for McCaw, yes he is a great player of his generation. But I will be saying to my grandchildren "I remember watching McCheat when he kick Cooper, or he cheated when he broke from the scrum early to score a try, he was great but got away with a lot"
Then again I'm an Aussie, and there is envy in there !!! He is almost good enough to be a Queenslander !!!
Posted 12:40 08th October 2012
saffastormer says...
Well played AB's, you truly are in a different league. Outplayed and outclassed us. I think saffas had a bit of 'severe wishful thinking' after beating a hugely depleted AUS team thinking we had a chance to beat the AB's. I just hope HM doesnt regress and bring morne steyn back into the fold. Perhaps Peter Grant is an option as a reliable and accurate kicker, and he defends and attacks well
Posted 12:37 08th October 2012
new_j4a says...
@jayStarr, Of course you can! Please say exactly what you like....and calm down dear, you're going red in the face and starting to dribble down your chin. (Would it be too much to ask that you pretend to be an Australian rugby fan?.....just so we don't embarrass South Africa)
Posted 12:37 08th October 2012
APV1 says...
Richie McCaw.
Brian Lara.
Michael Schumacher.
What do they all have in common?
They are simply the best in their time and it's these people who we will tell our children and grandchildren about:
"I remember watching x when he did y..." that sort of thing.
Posted 11:05 08th October 2012
Dylbull says...
One word.... SCHOOLED!!!
were taught a rugby lesson by an incredibly good All Black side, perhaps the best of all time...
A quick note about McCaw; yes he gets away with murder sometimes, but he is such a clever player, a courageous leader and one of the all time greats.
HM needs to decide which way we are going to go here. Springbok rugby is at a cross roads, if he wants to play an expansive game then there is no place for certain players, if he is going to play a 'pressure' game then there is no place for certain players.
The difference between these two teams on Saturday was intelligence, clear game plan and executuion. New Zealand have an expansive game plan but they have real ball players who execute it well. Carter, Smith (both of them), Nonu, even Read. With a dominant pack who understand what they have to do.
In contrast to us, randomly flinging the ball around, too many forwards in the backline on defence and players who are unable to execute the type of expansive play the HM seems to be wanting. Goosen or Jantjies are more than capable of getting a back line firing, but not with a 12 like De Villiers who just throws the ball without looking, without running any interesting lines or angles, without trying to get his hands through the tackle, Pienaar was also poor in this regard. New Zealand have playmakers all over the field, even in the loose forwards. We have one!
I think the forward battle was pretty even and our youngish pack did enugh to set the platform for the backs to fire.... but our backs 9, 12, 15 in particular, were short of ideas and imagination.
If Meyer wants a more fluid back line, then he needs a back line coach who has a clue and he needs the right personnel in the key areas on the pitch.
We have every reason to be optemistic as Springbok fans, but right now we have to applaud this all black team as the best team in the world.
Posted 10:26 08th October 2012
Carpelone says...
I do not know from where to start.
I definitely think that this was the day of Richie McCaw, who achieved an amazing goal. Great stuff indeed. Congratulations on that.
Then, I need to congratulate New Zealand on their Grand Slam and the way they did it, in style on saturday and with the Argentianians.
New Zealand entered the Championship with few doubts in my opinion, at 4, 5, 6 9 and 11 (and partially at 12), which they brushed aside. Smith is the pick of the tournement, Nonu (who was awful against Argentina in Wellington) is back at his best, also the other roles are quite settled. The bad news is that if you want to beat New Zealand, you have to considerably lift your level, there is no chance that they can low theirs.
As far as the Boks are concerned, we must start building upon the initial 25 minutes. Potential to beat New Zealand soon is there, HM needs to concentrate on building the leadership inside the team, it is unconceivable how the Boks butchered opportunities within NZ's 5 meters. Lots of work to do. but the talents are there, just learn how to nurture and develop them from AB's management team (and above all, how to keep them fit).
Posted 10:03 08th October 2012
rugby_rockstar says...
Well done New Zealand!!! I think every rugby union ought to start using the NZRFU as the template for winning rugby. They've written the professional rugby bible!
The NZ All Blacks are bigger than Jesus and I can get away with saying that becasue most Americans don't know what rugby is anyway. In fact I not even sure if they've heard of New Zealand. They probably think its a dutch cheese. Oops! That done it. They'll be some dodgy smelling bon fires in Louisiana today and rivers of melted edam flowing into the Mississippi!
Posted 10:01 08th October 2012
new_j4a says...
@Ross Hastie, Ross a very serious, thoughtful poster on this site (@sandal) is having trouble posting details about alleged ref bias. Please can you help out by either providing him with a forum to speak his mind or explaining why he is being prevented from sharing his concerns. I am sure that this is a technical glitch and not editorial policy (which in my experience only edits out the most slanderous personal attacks that contain no rugby related content)
Posted 09:31 08th October 2012