All Blacks captain Richie McCaw lets his frustrations get the better of him during play on Saturday night. Photo / Getty Images

All Blacks captain Richie McCaw lets his frustrations get the better of him during play on Saturday night. Photo / Getty Images

South Africa are more than worthy Tri-Nations champions while the All Blacks have become embarrassing chumps.

The Graham Henry era is in serious trouble, again, and even rugby's hopeless romantics Wales, under Warren Gatland, must be licking their lips in anticipation of a historic victory later this year.

The always faulty, disingenuous theory that losing World Cup coaches, men who ruined their own team in 2007, would somehow be better for the experience was given humiliating last rites in Hamilton on Saturday night. So much for the NZRU's claim that this trio is the dream team.

The rugby pundits were intent on picking on Springboks captain John Smit leading up to this test, but there are far more important targets for New Zealand much closer to home.

Smit was inspirational - including a wonderful hit on Brad Thorn - although it is probably inevitable that his tight head scrummaging will remain erratic, that he will tire at times having returned to the position late in his career.

Smit will go down as a colossus of world rugby, in the pantheon with the likes of Martin Johnson and John Eales, but the All Blacks are simply going down.

Man for man, this is the worst All Black side of the professional era, but the sum total is even worse than the parts thanks to theory-heavy coaching and the odd diabolical selection.

Two men kept the All Blacks in the hunt in Hamilton and for once they weren't Dan Carter, who was out of sorts, and the lion-hearted Richie McCaw.

Referee Nigel Owens and touch judge Wayne Barnes combined to bolster the New Zealand scoreline with two and perhaps three crazy penalty rulings, from which Carter goaled, and a wonky decision which helped turn what should have been an attacking Springbok lineout into a Sitiveni Sivivatu try.

This handicapping of the Springboks started from their opening kickoff reception when Owens awarded the All Blacks a ridiculous penalty. He was at it again with a bizarre kick-chase offside call, and probably got a ruck penalty wrong as well although that is par for the course in rugby.

Barnes, whose World Cup quarter-final performance was used by Henry as the crucial evidence to keep his job, came to the All Black coach's aid again, gifting Joe Rokocoko a get-out-of-jail card which led to the Sivivatu try.