KEY POINTS:
One of the reasons the All Blacks lost that test to the Boks last night was the way it was refereed. Matt Goddard is renowned for the type of control he exerts on a match and, after so many penalties and free kicks, he kind of broke the
game up for the All Blacks.
I am not saying he cost them the match - the All Blacks did that all by themselves by not taking advantage of the possession they had and the chances they made.
But Goddard's style didn't do them any favours either and maybe suited the Boks more. They defended very well but didn't look all that dangerous themselves and, when Victor Matfield, was yellow-carded in the last 10 minutes, I thought the All Blacks went to sleep a bit.
They also looked a bit flat after last week. In fact, both sides were less aggressive at the breakdown and in other phases than last week but the Boks did a little better at the possession contesting points, I thought. Some will blame the All Blacks' lack of depth and, fair enough, it was obvious we had a pair of young locks on after Ali Williams went off injured.
Not that Anthony Boric or Kevin O'Neill played poorly - they didn't. But things just didn't flow and they didn't get things going their way and the All Blacks as a whole just didn't seem to have the experience to make the game go their way.
I thought the front row and Rodney So'oialo played well at the breakdown and that was about it - so we were about four players down from the excellent contesting there last weekend.
I didn't think Keven Mealamu added much for once when he came on - and Andrew Hore had been playing so well. However, I will admit that Sione Lauaki added punch and penetration when he was subbed on.
But this was a puzzlingly flat All Black performance. Ma'a Nonu did well enough but maybe he could have run more instead of passing last night, as he caused them real problems when he did that, especially towards the end.
As for Springbok halfback Ricky Januarie, that might have been his best moment in a Bok jersey. He was a problem all night for the All Blacks and showed Andy Ellis what a good running game can bring.
The loosies were disappointing, too. Jerome Kaino had a quiet time after his fine match last week and Adam Thomson had a dull match.
Not that he played badly. But I don't think he and Kaino gave So'oialo the support they did the previous test.