All Blacks suffocate Boks. Now for the championship decider!

September 2, 2005

The New Zealand All Blacks put the 2005 Tri-Nations championship on a knife-edge last Saturday after beating the South Africa Springboks 31-27 at Carisbrook. It was a massive struggle for both sides, and only Keven Mealamu's late try saved the day for the All Blacks, who now face the Wallabies at Eden Park on Saturday to clinch the championship.

Christopher Aylwin writing in the Observer claimed the game was "not a classic."

But former All Black prop John Drake disagreed, saying: "The passion, aggression and skill from both teams gave us one of the most memorable recent tests and certainly right up there with the dramas of yesteryear." Drakey must've loved the sight of blood flying from the mouth of Bok flanker Shalk Burger most of the game and seeing the fearless blond maniac throwing himself to the ground every time a loose ball was bouncing. The contest and commitment from both sides was enormous.

The Sunday Times' Stuart Barnes believes the All Blacks winning "without hitting the heights ... should forewarn the rugby world."

The scoreline made the test one to savour up until the very end, but the gulf in class between the two sides was obvious. Paul Waite writing in the Haka says: "South Africa are a tough proposition but are essentially a bunch of very motivated and energetic tree-kickers. They smack the shit out of the trunks and hope for some fruit to drop into their hands, where it's greedily consumed in a flash."

South African columnist Hennie Brandt does his own accounting, and says the new Bok style had worked for so far, "but the fact that they made 121 tackles against the All Blacks' 74 did not help. They also dug their own grave by missing several tackles when it counted. They missed 29 tackles, compared to the All Blacks' nine."

A dejected Bok captain John Smit also rued his team's blown chance at taking out the Tri-Nations and claiming the mathematical World #1 ranking. "We built ourselves an opportunity of going to number one in the world," Smit said after the squad returned home, "but we wasted that opportunity on Saturday."

Rick Boyd, also writing in the Haka, spares nothing for referee Joel Jutge: "A score something in the region of 50-15 would have been in the offing but for one factor: the utter, utter, UTTER incompetence of the blind, bent, imbecilic French git of a referee. In a display that makes David McHugh look like the fount of all refereeing wisdom and Derek Bevan look like the world's most accurate and intuitive referee, Froggie Jutge turned in the worst international refereeing performance I have ever seen since the glorious days of bent Broederbund ref Gert Bezhuiden-whatsit."

The Red Terror had a floor covered with bitten fingernails about the selection of Leon MacDonald at No. 10, but MacDonald acquitted himself well, particularly in the first half. MacDonald made his kicks, was tactically assured, and even picked up a great try. Although to be fair, he also gifted the Springboks an easy 7 points, taking too long with a clearance kick that Bok scrummie Ricky Januarie charged down on the goalline at the crack of halftime to close the score and get his team back into the contest. For that last bit, Januarie even tossed the ball at MacDonald's face as a thank-you card.

New Bok star Bryan Habana picked up another opportunistic try off an opposition mistake, and the All Blacks try-scoring senseation Joe Rokocoko did him one better and picked up a pair of tries. But the star of Saturday's test was unquestionably All Black hooker Keven Mealamu. He scored the winning try, did all the hard work to set up Leon MacDonald's try, made a number of impressive breaks throughout the game that got the Bok defence scrambling, and was mostly accurate with his lineout throwing all evening. He was also a part of the formidable All Black front-row that had the vaunted Bok pack on the rack all game.

Anton Oliver's re-signing with New Zealand rugby and Mealamu's best-ever performance in a black jersey suggest there will be a dogfight for the All Blacks World Cup hooker jersey.

The other huge news about last Saturday's test match was the launch of a brand new All Black haka, titled Kapa O Pango (Team in Black). The New Zealand Herald calls this new haka "the cutting edge of sport." The spectacle was amazing. Taking everybody by surprise, this was truthfully the most memorable haka performance I have ever seen. I can't imagine the sporting world has ever seen a more passionate show of leadership that the intense ritual captain Tana Umaga threw down to the Springboks. All indications are that All Blacks fans love the new haka, and Bok captain John Smit wasn't any different. Smit said after the match that he knew immediately it was a new haka. "It was an honour for us to stand before them when they did the new version of the haka. It was fantastic."

Apparently Smit didn't feel quite so warmly toward Polynesian culture after the game, being accused of racially abusing a Samoan bouncer whilst drinking with fellow Springboks in Sydney in the early hours of Monday morning. The South African management is investigating, and until then has put a media restraining order on their skipper.

As for his opposite, Tana Umaga is also embroiled in a bit of off-the-field gossip. The New Zealand Education Ministry is refusing to give details of its contract with the All Blacks captain -- worth up to $510,000 -- citing commercial sensitivity. Umaga agreed to front Team-Up, a $16 million plan to get parents involved in their children's education.

The nastiest business from Saturday's test was the furious punch-up early in the game's 2nd half. No one was carded during the game, but All Black blindside flanker Jerry Collins received a two-week ban after disciplinary review. The New Zealand Herald's Chris Rattue doesn't apologize for Collins' behaviour, but wants you to know the AB hardman is really a big softie at heart: "There has never been an All Black sight quite like him, as he stampedes ahead in the upright position a la a kids' action toy with the spring wound tight."

This weeks' huge encounter sees the All Blacks fly north to Auckland to host the Wallabies. It will be the final game of the tournament and decide the victor. The All Blacks are currently sitting on 10 points on the table, just three points behind the leading Springboks. A straight win is worth 4 points, so an All Black victory will see them take the silverware. The Wallabies have never lost all four matches in any Tri-Nations championship, and will be doing their best to keep that record intact. It comes down to one team playing for pride against another team playing for glory.

Glory (and talent) should prevail. You can read Rugby Planet's excellent preview here.

Having said that, the All Blacks have every reason to be worried. The Wallabies pacey twin loose forward strike force George Smith and Phil Waugh have reunited, and their combination has given the All Blacks fits and headaches the last pair of times these guys have started together.

A bigger mystery is the selection of Mat Rogers to pivot the Australian backline from No. 10, where has no experience at this level, but nevertheless introduces a huge danger and unpredicatability. His team has nothing to lose, so we should expect anything from the mercurial ex-leaguer.

Positional changes for the All Blacks sees the suspended Jerry Collins getting replaced by the robust and enigmatic Sione Lauaki, who will need to pick up his workrate and stamp his authority on the game early. Doug Howlett returns on the right wing ahead of Rico Gear, who was most invisible against South Africa, and Jimmy Cowan flies in as cover for the injured scrumhalf Piri Weepu, whose status is undecided until game time.

Besides the huge implications of the All Blacks - Wallabies test on Saturday, there's also a bit of history. Wallaby captain and scrum-half George Gregan will equal England prop Jason Leonard's record of 114 Test caps for his country. Rumours are flying that Gregan will hang up the boots after the test, but I suspect that decision is still a bit premature, and Gregan might still fancy a crack at the next World Cup and make that his swansong. But you never know, right? Georgie is his own man. It's sad that Australian commentators and public can't get behind this guy -- they continue to write him off and question his leadership. But he still draws rapt attention and admiration in New Zealand -- which could be construed as genuine admiration or a feeling the halfback is a liability to exploit.

Note: I'm on the road for the next couple weeks travelling, so updates will be dependent upon the likelihood that I can find get a computer hookup in the remotest wilds of the Canadian maritimes (i.e. not really likely), but I will try my best. Until next time, don't forget to use those links in the link box above, it's where you'll get all the best and latest rugby news and commentary.