Paul Lewis: The Springboks have exposed glaring All Blacks weaknesses

TJ Perenara struggled to provide consistently-quick ball for his backline against the Springboks. Photo / Photosport

OPINION:

One of the lessons from the All Blacks' skinny win over the Springboks last weekend was just how much the halfback department needs some new talent on the rise.

By any objective measure, TJ Perenara's game was flawed last week – demonstrating just how much the All Blacks rely on the absent Aaron Smith. The need for that lightning pass of his, particularly with the opposition in maximum disruption mode, was clear.

In mitigation, no halfback in the world finds it easy to have huge Bok lumps wading through the breakdown, physically inquiring into the wellbeing of the key distributor. When the squeeze is on, even a slight delay in getting the ball to runners plays into the hands of teams stifling the All Blacks.

Perenara is a fine All Black, a committed and passionate man of 74 tests, still an efficient defensive halfback, link man and support player. However, his pass is sometimes borderline slow and does not have a lot of length – and his occasional tendency to take a step or three before passing did not help the All Blacks against South Africa.

Before this tour (and it must be said he played well against Argentina) he has been in Japan and flirted with a move to the NRL, neither the best preparation for top-level test rugby and signals all too likely to prompt speculation he might be cresting the hill. He can also be a little too conversant and eye-rolling with refs at times – always a tactic best-used sparingly.

Brad Weber seems a better direct replacement for Smith and his selection ahead of Perenara this week is smart. He has the next-best speed of clearance and, with a bit of room to run, acceleration to burn. However, Weber is rising 31, Perenara is about to turn 30 and Smith will shortly be 33. Where is the new blood behind these older blokes, even if they are doing a terrific job of resisting time's insistence?

TJ Perenara struggled to provide consistently-quick ball for his backline against the Springboks. Photo / Photosport

The No. 9 jersey will become much more of a focus as we get closer to the next World Cup. Finlay Christie is the latest to be trialled in this environment but is so far largely unproven. Three-test Te Toiroa Tahuriorangi is now third halfback at the Crusaders along with Mitchell Drummond - another tried in the black jersey about that time (but not called on since).

Hawkes Bay's Folau Fakatava has a big reputation but also has a horror ACL injury and eligibility complications may delay his entry to the All Blacks next year. Waikato's lively Xavier Roe will also be worth a look – and if you need convincing of New Zealand's need for a halfback with a near-supersonic pass, watch the video of last week's test, acknowledging Perenara was playing behind a breakdown under siege.

That wasn't the only lesson. Ardie Savea's captaincy had to be questioned. In a game littered with penalties from an over-anxious ref, the All Blacks obstinately kicked for the sideline and opted for lineouts and drive/rolling mauls against a team expertly defending them.

Savea is a tremendous competitor but doesn't yet wear captaincy comfortably. The All Blacks could have employed Jordie Barrett to launch long-range projectiles at the South African goal but chose to even pass up closer shots at goal. They failed to benefit from this exercise, let's see, totally – turning down eight shots, 24 potential points, for nil return.

Barrett's range as a goalkicker suggests he could bang them over from the train station down the road. His lack of use is like selecting Usain Bolt for your track team and asking him only to run in the 4x100m relay.

Ardie Savea's captaincy against the Springboks saw him turn down eight makeable shots at goal. Photo / Photosport

Building scoreboard pressure would have affected the Boks; they would have had to change their game plan and run the ball, exposing themselves to what they feared and hoped to avoid: the All Blacks' counter-attack.

There's a bit of rugby snobbery underneath all this stubbornness about not kicking goals: we can be beautiful, why can't you?

The Boks' relentless kick-and-pressure game might be boring and ugly – but it worked well against the All Blacks. If it works, you do it. If it works well, you do it again. Yet Faf de Klerk's surprise tactic of kicking a high ball in the All Blacks' 22 was greeted as if he'd done something vile in the vicar's cucumber patch.

Everybody knew how the Springboks were going to play. You could have plucked someone's grandma off a street in the outskirts of Bishkek in Kyrgyzstan – and she could have predicted it.

But, in the end, the All Blacks had to rely on Barrett having the nerve to kick a difficult goal to win the 100th test between these two great rivals. It makes no sense.

If he'd missed, all the generous assessment of the All Blacks' win (wasn't it good they can win ugly?) would have adopted a completely different tone.

The old values – substance first, style later – still apply and you'd think that has now been impressed on Ardie Savea.