All Blacks get the job done against the Boks to take firm control of Pool B
New Zealand fired an ominous warning of their grim focus to secure a record third-straight World Cup crown by grinding past South Africa 23-13 in Yokohama.
The back-to-back world champion All Blacks fended off everything a turbo-charged Cheslin Kolbe and the Springboks could throw at them, powering to an opening victory at times prosaic in style – but every inch foreboding for their foes.
George Bridge and Scott Barrett bagged New Zealand’s tries, with Richie Mo’unga slotting 10 points with the boot. Beauden Barrett also notched a penalty of his own.
Rassie Erasmus’ Springboks tore into New Zealand from the off, appeared to have punched themselves out after 20 minutes, then rose from the canvas for another flurry of combinations after the break.
Toulouse speed merchant Kolbe stormed, stalked and danced his way through, round and over the All Blacks defence – but crucially could not quite provide a finish.
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The marauding wing finished the match nursing a possible leg injury to heap misery on a frustrating night that had positively oozed promise from the moment he latched onto the ball for the first time in the second half.
New Zealand hardly excelled here, and Beauden Barrett’s move to full-back continues to polarise opinion, and perhaps fail to convince. But boss Steve Hansen likes his All Blacks to build into tournaments, and his back line that finished the match – with Beauden Barrett at 10, Sonny Bill Williams in the centre and Ben Smith at full-back – will no doubt prove the starting combination for knockout clashes.
A watching Ireland can draw one clear conclusion from this engaging if at times sloppy contest – Joe Schmidt’s men will have to crank up their own level significantly to defeat either of these teams. Ireland will face one of New Zealand or South Africa should they reach the quarter-finals and after this, the size of the task in store for the knockout stages has been laid bare.
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— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) September 21, 2019
For all of South Africa’s doubtless frustration in defeat however, both these teams are surely bound for the quarter-finals, whereupon their real assault on the Japan tournament will begin in earnest.
South Africa’s breakneck start rattled a curiously disjointed New Zealand. The Springboks flew off the defensive line with startling speed, hustling their way to a quick 3-0 lead thanks to a Pollard penalty. The Blue Bulls fly-half struck the post with a second effort off the tee, failing with a regulation shot – and after that traffic reversed.
Erasmus’ men only wound up blitzing themselves with that super-aggressive line speed. The Boks effectively ran out of steam in the first quarter. Ailing limbs led to misplaced passes, and New Zealand pounced. First Makazole Mapimpi was hugely fortunate to escape a yellow card for killing the ball just five metres out, with Mo’unga banging over the penalty.
Then Bridge slid home after lightning raids from Sevu Reece, Ardie Savea and Beauden Barrett. And when Scott Barrett cantered home just before the half-hour, New Zealand had total supremacy. Or so they thought. Suddenly the crowd burst into a Mexican Wave, and Kolbe snapped to it almost in a fit of anger – and the game set on fire.
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— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) September 21, 2019
Somehow Mo’unga denied Kolbe a stunning score at the last, but the All Blacks lost possession on their counter-attack. And flanker Du Toit flopped home to drag the Boks back into the equation. Pollard’s conversion – and then a finely crafted and equally well-struck drop-goal – dragged Erasmus’ men to within four points of the back-to-back world champions.
Mo’unga quickly slotted a penalty to restore the seven-point All Black advantage, before Barrett posted a three-pointer of his own. Kolbe bobbed, weaved and sneaked around defenders time and again at the death, but to no avail.
The Boks will hope he has not suffered a serious injury, because the fast-rising star has the potential to be the most destructive player in this competition.
– Press Association
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Comments on RugbyPass
There’s value gleaned from having an All Black star running and training with your team. How many games he starts (or even where he plays in the backline) will be decided on a week by week basis based on the needs for that week. But the overall learning and growth for all concerned, I’d think, is massively beneficial. Especially for Irish players.
7 Go to commentsSon, whith just " raw athlete “ , you are able to beat “ better rugby players “ by 74 points…. May be England should recruit in athletics….
1 Go to commentsPffft. It’s not a one-way street bud and Irish teams don’t seem to have had an issue taking kiwi players previously.
7 Go to commentsParticularly great to have captain Scott Barrett back after going off last week for the Crusaders. Codie Taylor a real leader and mighty Tamaiti Williams join Fletcher Newell in the front row. Those 2 will make a big difference. Great bench with the likes of Tom Christie, Jamie Hannah etc who are playing well. Should be a great derby.
1 Go to commentsDoes a blitz defence not have a weekness against a well-placed grubber kick, perhaps angled cleverly. All the defence is up and the full-back can only cover so much ground. Thoughts?
28 Go to commentsWhile Iose is destructive in the Canes set-up, he is not big for an international 8 and could struggle against the top teams. With his speed, he could be developed into a seven but, as Ben points out, he doesn’t show a scavenging game with the Canes or make dominating tackles. Sotutu has shown a step up this year and attitude plus motivation seems to be the big areas of growth. Deserves another AB shot imo.
3 Go to commentsNaholo is my only question mark for this side. He wasn’t the only one who had a forgettable game against the Brumbies but he was passive, defensively poor and generally lacked energy. Needs to get a whole lot busier for me. I would have liked to see Sullivan on that wing with Higgins on the bench (if staying with a 6-2 as BeegMike points out on here!)
3 Go to commentsWell, I am sure that Eben said exactly what he meant to say, exactly how he meant to say it. Does he strike you as a man that doesn't know arrogance when he sees it. He should know it because he has shaken the arrogance out of many foes before.
132 Go to commentsPls get it into your thick arrogant heads that the final was played by two Southern Hemisphere teams. The best against the best and that Argentina was just unlucky otherwise non of the Northetn Hemisphere teams would have seen the light of day.
132 Go to commentsAs long as New Zealand youth are involved in sport they are passionate for, and are well supported, it’s all good. I love league as well as rugby. NRL clubs have long since scouted the First 15 competitions, the NH and Japan scout super rugby and NPC. It’s a miracle there’s any players left for the all blacks to pick from.
4 Go to commentsI'm a Bok fan, so I don't say this lightly, but he is one of my all time favourite players. I am really going to miss watching him play. Thanks for many great memories. You are a true legend of the game.
3 Go to commentsBest way to deal with all of this is to play another game.
132 Go to commentsIt’s 12-15 games Luke. Ringrose has barely played in 2024 and Henshaw and Keenan have also been out for spells in the same time period. There are always injuries and for younger players to play with the likes of Barrett will be great for them. It’s just looking for negatives where there are none.
7 Go to commentsAndy Goode pushing his own agenda with very dubious considerations on refereeing performances. Luke Pearce speaking a bit of French doesn’t make him a good and adequate referee for the Champions Cup final; his latest refereeing performance in particular was not so great.
4 Go to commentsJordie knows that he has to earn the right to put on the jersey, whatever that jersey might be.
7 Go to commentsThe best outside centre in the world at one point. He will be greatly missed.
3 Go to commentsYip his great for the big moments when needed as a safa really enjoy watching him
4 Go to commentsOne that will start to come up from now on is penalties for back pushes during kick chase scrambles. Very difficult to detect. In Croke Park if you replay the Hendy NH try, you will see Furbank push Porter in the back, who collides with Larmour knocking the ball across into Hendy’s path to dot down. A more significant example was in the RWC QTR final where Arendse pushes Fickou into two other French players for the ball to spill into Arendse’s path for him to gather and run in to score SAs first try. Not cheating if you are not caught and very difficult to spot but with kicking becoming so critical I feel its an area that will referreeed/TMO-ed more.
4 Go to commentsWhat a pathetic little twit Andy Goode is, as if we care what he thinks…..😂
132 Go to commentsFoxy has been a wonderful player for the Scarlets and Wales.
3 Go to comments