Rugby: All Blacks fix their flaws in dominant display

The All Blacks after their 57-0 win against South Africa. Photo / Brett Phibbs

An impressive performance from the All Blacks where they did just about everything right, fixed most of their flaws from previous weeks, posted a record score and yet won't feel entirely satisfied.

The biggest thing that will trouble them is wondering just what on earth the Boks were all about. Were South Africa bad or were they made to look bad?

Their lineout fell apart. It was a shambles from the first throw to the last. Their game plan was pedestrian and predictable, clunking up the middle with their big ball carriers hoping they could smash and bash their way forward.

The All Blacks defence knew what was coming at them, knew where the threats lay and they mopped it up all too easily.

And as for the Boks defence - it was weak. Relentlessly poor, mainly in that they missed so many one-on-one tackles.

There's no hiding from the Boks' mediocrity. But the question is how much of that was self-inflicted and how much was it forced upon them by the pressure the All Blacks exerted?

That's the bit the All Blacks will dig into over the next few weeks and no doubt conclude that both factors contributed to the incredible scoreline, but that they can feel their excellence was most influential.

They will fancy they induced much of the difficulties the Boks suffered. What helped immeasurably was the way they took their chances in the first half. They were under a bit of pressure in that first quarter but they managed to pick off four tries through quite brilliant finishing.

Once they were in front, they were able to take control of the game because of the totality of the rugby they played.

The All Blacks defended superbly. They made an inordinate number of dominant tackles and on the back of that they were able to compete for the ball on the ground.

And because they were able to slow the Boks' possession down, the All Blacks were able to generate more line speed and own the gainline battle.

"We are proud of it," said All Blacks coach Steve Hansen of the performance. "The boys had a good week and as we said we are trying to get better all the time.

"We came into tonight pretty clear about how we wanted to play and what we wanted to achieve. A lot of those things came off tonight and we are pretty happy with that.

"I thought we were a bit jittery at the start. Once we got into the rhythm of the game I thought we played as well as we have played for a long time."

By the last 20 minutes it looked like South Africa had disintegrated into a Tier Two side. It looked as if they had nothing to offer and that they were a lot worse than they really were.

But so much of that was due to the fact that the All Blacks, thanks to their defence and awareness, were able to play on the front foot for most of the game and with quality ball and a bit of time, they found their attacking mojo.

A bit like the Australians in Sydney, the South Africans discovered that this All Blacks side are playing with a pace and intensity that makes even good teams look decidedly ordinary.