THE idea that New Zealand have unearthed a side in a different stratosphere to anything else in the rugby galaxy was emphatically exploded when South Africa battered them in Cape Town yesterday.
In the process the Springboks posted notice of not only just how woeful Sir Clive Woodward’s Lions had been in succumbing to a 3-0 whitewash in New Zealand last month, but also that it is going to take a very good side to wrest the Tri-Nations title off them.
South Africa, who established a record 11-match unbeaten home run with this win, owed much to the tactical savvy of their coach Jake White. White outlined in these pages during the Lions tour exactly what it takes to bring New Zealand down to earth, and where Woodward totally failed to follow the blueprint, White followed it to the letter. The Springboks put the ratchet on New Zealand in the forward phases, pounding them at the scrum and unsettling them at the lineout so successfully that they plundered five New Zealand throws to only one of their own lost. From that platform they launched a blitz defence that kept New Zealand on the back foot for large swathes of this riveting encounter. Equally significantly, the Springboks turned the screw on New Zealand prodigy Daniel Carter. The young fly-half who tormented the Lions was reduced to the ranks of the mere mortals by a South African rush defence that never allowed him time or room to manoeuvre.
Although New Zealand demonstrated that they are still the most dangerous counter- attacking side in the world, the South Africans denied them the momentum that is such a crucial component in the All Blacks out-flanking their opponents. The South African back-five forwards clattered key New Zealand ball carriers such as Jerry Collins, Tana Umaga and Keven Mealamu on the gain-line, continuously fracturing New Zealand’s rhythm and gaining a clear edge in turnovers at the breakdown. As a result, South Africa’s main back-row scavenger, Schalk Burger, had the better of the New Zealand golden boy Richie McCaw.
It was the prodigious work-rate of South Africa’s mammoth second rows, Victor Matfield and Bakkies Botha, that did most to tip the balance in the sledgehammer forward exchanges, and the dominance they achieved in the loose was replicated at the lineout where they had the Indian sign over Chris Jack and Ali Williams. For all that, South Africa turned around only 16-13 ahead at the interval and had a notable piece of good fortune early in the second half when Rico Gear rounded their defence only for the final pass to go forward with the line begging. However, the Springboks regathered their composure straight away and stole an all-important march when Percy Montgomery — who had another impeccable afternoon with the boot — kicked his second penalty of the match to give them a 19-13 lead after McCaw had strayed offside at a ruck.
There was no clearer sign that the All Blacks were rattled than when Carter took his eye off the ball fielding a serviceable pass from Piri Weepu, knocking on in his own 22. It was hardly surprising that Carter was distracted because almost every time he got the ball he was confronted by a South African back coming off his line like an Olympic sprinter and the follow-up of two physical forwards.
The pressure paid dividends when, in the 52nd minute, Tony Woodcock was penalised for not binding at a scrum and Montgomery stretched the Springbok lead to 22-13 from in front of the posts. New Zealand’s disarray was emphasised just afterwards when Jaque Fourie hustled McCaw into a fumble that he then gathered to streak over the line, only to be pulled back for offside. From then on the Springboks played the percentages, using their solid scrum, strong tackling and thumping kicking by Andre Pretorius, Montgomery and Breyton Paulse to repel an All Black attack that, for once, appeared to have run out of ideas.
New Zealand kept coming, and, nine minutes from time, looked to have cracked it when a Mils Muliaina break gave Carter a sniff of the line — only for it to be snuffed out when a double tackle by Bryan Habana and Joe van Niekerk forced him to knock on. Although Carter kicked a straightforward penalty a couple of minutes later, the All Blacks had come second not only in the physical contest but on the scoreboard.
The signs that New Zealand would meet a different sort of challenge to that posed by the limp Lions was soon obvious. South Africa took the early initiative, Montgomery putting them ahead with a long-range penalty after two minutes, and their urgency and aggression — including a pulverising shoulder charge by Matfield that put Kelleher off the field, and should have seen him sin-binned — paid off when Pretorius kicked a drop-goal after a Botha lineout steal to make it 6-0. It was Botha’s second steal from consecutive New Zealand throws, putting the Lions line-out failure in stark perspective. The South African blitzkrieg had its biggest pay-off when, after nine minutes, the All Blacks’ first serious attack backfired. An in-field break by Gear saw Kelleher in possession on the South African 22, but when the scrum-half threw a speculative inside pass it was picked off by Jean de Villiers and the pacy centre ran in the intercept from 75 metres. Montgomery converted, leaving the All Blacks shell-shocked and the Springboks with a 13-0 lead.
Carter steadied the New Zealand ship, reducing the deficit to 13-3 with a penalty after 14 minutes, and they then struck back to score a peach of a try midway through the first half. After Carter and McCaw had sucked in the South African defence down the left, Carter fired a cut-out pass to Collins, who then threw a double miss-pass for Gear to touch down unopposed on the right. Carter’s conversion narrowed the gap further, and then he kicked his second penalty to make it 13-13 after 26 minutes. However, a Montgomery penalty four minutes before the interval gave South Africa their 16-13 half-time lead, and they had the clout to hang onto it.
South Africa: P Montgomery; B Paulse, J Fourie, J de Villiers, B Habana; A Pretorius, R Januarie; O du Randt, J Smit (capt), CJ van der Linde, B Botha, V Matfield, S Burger, J van Niekerk, J Smith.
New Zealand: L MacDonald; R Gear, T Umaga (capt), A Mauger, M Muliaina; D Carter, B Kelleher; T Woodcock, K Mealamu, C Hayman, C Jack, A Williams, J Collins, R So’oialo, R McCaw.
Try: De Villiers Conversion: Montgomery
Penalties: Montgomery (4) Drop Goal: Pretorius
Try: Gear Conversion: Carter
Penalties: Carter (3)
Referee: A Cole (Australia); Att: 49,000
