Against the reigning World champions they were sublime at times and when the Boks did hit back they rode the storm and finished strongly to complete a stellar performance.
The Kiwis, much encouraged by their excellent road win in Argentina last week, brought all that momentum back with them to fortress Auckland and with much the same team started like a runaway train.
For the first quarter South Africa, in contrast, resembled a side that hadn’t played together for eight months which in essence was true. They also enjoyed a superb win last week, over Australia, but that was essentially their Second XV they fielded at Loftus.
The South Africa Gun XV had been sent ahead to New Zealand to acclimatise and prepare, which sounds all very well and good in theory but was a move fraught with danger, as the opening exchanges showed.
In fairness New Zealand were quite exceptional with their energy levels high but nonetheless contained and disciplined.
The All Blacks first try came after a passage of play close on three minutes which started with a routine scrum and built slowly. Indeed, at one stage a monster tackle by Eben Etzebeth on Mark Talea seemed to rock them back and you fancied they would opt for a kick to touch or downfield for territory.
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Denne historien er fra July 16, 2023-utgaven av The Rugby Paper.
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