A dejected All Blacks halfback TJ Perenara after defeat to the Springboks. Photo / Photosport
A dejected All Blacks halfback TJ Perenara after defeat to the Springboks. Photo / Photosport
OPINION:
If the All Blacks are honest, they will know they didn't deserve to make another late escape against the Springboks last night.
They were hanging on for most of the second half – being beaten up at the tackle, the scrum, the lineout and they looked punch drunk andincapable of escaping.
They so nearly did. They so nearly held on for long enough to show they have learned the miraculous and invaluable art of winning when they haven't done enough to earn it.
But South Africa, who were quite brilliant for 80 minutes, were able to use their incredible pack of forwards to dig the win out in the last minute with a superb driving maul.
It was a result they deserved because while the All Blacks had considerably more poise and accuracy than they did last week, they started to unravel midway through the second half.
A dejected All Blacks halfback TJ Perenara after defeat to the Springboks. Photo / Photosport
They couldn't build any momentum – not enough at least to get on the front foot and bend and break the Springboks defence the way they had in the first half.
There's no doubt the Springboks are brilliant at using their big men to make big tackles and then dominate the fight for the ball, but so too were they enabled to do that by referee Mathew Carley.
He seemed blind to the constant work of the Springboks tacklers not releasing the ball carrier. It was frustrating to see such obvious infringing go unpunished, but the Boks earned those decisions because of the dominance they were exerting in that area.
The front row they injected off the bench just before halftime, as well as the arrival of veteran fullback Francois Steyn, changed the complexion of the game entirely.
Once those four were on the field, the game swung South Africa's way. They were suddenly swarming the breakdown, owning the collisions, crushing the scrums and again, winning lineout ball and putting doubt in the All Blacks' minds about where they could find space and time on the field.
Francois Steyn made a major impact off the bench for the Springboks. Photo / Photosport
The All Blacks did well to stay in the game under that sort of pressure. Most teams would have been broken it, but New Zealand were cracked and made to look a little rattled, hurried and uncertain, but they hung in.
They held their nerve superbly and moved the ball well enough, safely enough to get what they needed – deep enough into Springbok territory to win a penalty, and then again, to get back into kickable territory for the incredible Jordie Barrett to try to save the day for New Zealand.
But for one lapse which gave the Boks a penalty in the last few seconds and Barrett would have again been the hero.
Yet the Boks got their victory and they got it because they were brave enough to play some rugby.
So much had been made of the Boks' strategic approach that it's almost as if they caved to public pressure and played a bit of pass and catch rugby just to get everyone off their back.
But it wasn't that at all – they moved the ball because they realised that their all-out aerial assault only got them so far last week.
It was brilliant at winning them possession and territory and getting up the field, but it didn't net them enough points. The pressure they exerted didn't convert to the scoreboard as they had hoped and that's why they balanced their game this time round with more attacking intent once they were deep inside All Blacks territory.
The Boks weren't brilliant at it but they weren't so bad either and they caused the All Blacks just as many problems as they did simply hoofing it to the heavens as they did last week.
Perhaps more importantly though, by adding a ball-in-hand, attacking dimension to their game, they have the potential to grow into a yet bigger threat.
The problem with the way they played last week was that it ultimately relied on luck to be effective – the constant high kicks having to first not be taken by the All Blacks and second, land somewhere advantageous for the Boks. A plan based on low probability doesn't seem strong enough.
It's a way to beat the All Blacks once or maybe twice every 10 tests – as has been the case for the last decade – but if they are brave enough to persevere with this better balanced strategy, they will be an entirely different beast.
