All Blacks dismantle Springbok hopes

August 26, 2006

The All Blacks won a decisive 45-26 victory over the Springboks at Loftus earlier today. It was an exciting test with lots of mistakes and fisticuffs. In the end, the New Zealanders imagination and strength in numbers during broken-field play made all the difference. Star men were (again) Richie McCaw and Daniel Carter.

Graham Henry's post-mortem on the All Blacks flimsy line-out will be justifiably harsh.

But that will be small potatoes compared to what Springbok coach Jake White is looking at.

Bok fans are furious. Mark Keohane:

Go now Jake

[...] You have to put the defeat into context. The All Blacks were poor in the first 20 minutes, they trailed 11-3, they lost their prop and fullback and their replacement back, the young wonderkid of New Zealand rugby, Toeava, had a nightmare afternoon, knocking on twice when tries would have been the result of him not losing the ball. His midfield defence was also ordinary and he was poorly aligned in the move that led to Fourie’s second try.

Add 50 000 South Africans, as a support base, to the equation and then try and find a positive in a 45-26 defeat.

Oh, I forgot that the All Blacks lost nine lineout balls, had their scrum wheeled once, messed up three tries and still got away with a 19 point win.

And if it may have slipped your mind, the All Blacks played against the Wallabies in Auckland last Saturday and flew to South Africa in two separate squads on Sunday and Monday, while the Boks have been home for three weeks.