View photosKEY POINTS:
It's a measure of how much tragedy has befallen Keith Robinson that his completion of 60 industrious minutes is cause for celebration.
He could have been anonymous, played like a shrinking violet and it wouldn't have mattered. The only thing that counted was that he made it back to the sheds in one piece - all limbs, digits, joints and tendons present and correct. Hallelujah - and long may his good health continue.
Robinson is a seriously undervalued commodity. The lineout doesn't go wonky on his watch. The collisions tend to go his way and what TV probably doesn't show is how quickly and often the All Black No 5 shirt arrives at the breakdown.
It might also be worth noting that the game in Durban featured plenty of niggle and cynicism. With Robinson on the paddock, there was none of that. Maybe coincidence or maybe it was a sign the Boks just didn't fancy mixing it up with Robinson snarling in their face.
"I think Keith Robinson depicted our whole team," said assistant coach Steve Hansen.
"In the first half, he was huge energy and huge work-rate and at times somewhat frantic.
"That's understandable - he wants to play and he has not played often so he wants to play really well when he gets the chance.
"He probably depicted the entire team again in the second half when he settled down quickly and started to be more accurate."
That accuracy was there for all to see on the All Black throw. Robinson has a welcome art of simplifying the process - he signals, he moves quickly, jumps, uses his body well in the air to get in front of his man and takes the ball cleanly.
He even managed to nick a few off the Boks and was a little tough on himself for not leading a more aggressive aerial campaign.
His captain explained that, with Victor Matfield and Bakkies Botha back in the Republic, the intention was to try and put some heat on the South African jumpers.
"We have a plan to contest the majority of throws," said Richie McCaw. "The major reason we did not was because we did not get there quickly enough. We didn't react quickly and they were smart."
Robinson heaped the blame on his own shoulders for that, citing himself as the man responsible for reading the opposition and deciding the best means to contain them.
He might have been a little harsh on himself. The All Black lineout has had much worse nights.
