All Blacks never-say-die grit pays as Rassie sinks his own ship

The All Blacks‘ 33-16 win over the Springboks was a classic story of weathering the storm and winning the little moments that matter.

Despite their ‘dominance’, the Springboks were repelled from entries into the 22 and left coming away with zero points on multiple occasions, with the All Blacks delivering on resilience and grit to give themselves a shot in the back end of the game.

A heroic save by Jordie Barrett forced a knock-on from Malcolm Marx when the hooker looked certain to score from a rolling maul. The midfielder’s never-say-die act is no fluke.

He was the tackler on Bongi Mbonambi two years ago at the same venue from the exact same play, although on that occasion South Africa escaped with five points from a dropped ball. Last year he produced a gladiatorial effort on Cheslin Kolbe in Wellington to deny the winger a try from a kick. Ireland will remember his one-on-one tackle on Ronan Kelleher in the 2023 Rugby World Cup quarter-final forever, with Kelleher detaching from the maul with a World Cup semi-final in his sights.

Another big-time tackle came from Jordie Barrett on No.8 Jasper Wiese on the final play of the first half. The 120kg wrecking ball lined him up from a lineout launch; Barrett took him direct and stripped the ball one-on-one for another lost ball.

After a long period of sustained pressure from South Africa camped in the All Blacks’ 22, this was a huge escape, with the All Blacks kicking the ball out to head to the sheds.

Barrett finished with five turnovers won, including a clean breakdown steal inside his own 22 on Eben Etzebeth.

In the second half, more dogged defence paid off. Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu slipped through the line before Ruben Love slowed him down with a chop tackle. A scrambling effort from Savea held him up over the line to save a try.

With scrum penalties piling up in South Africa’s favour, the Springboks had a chance to level the game 19-all with a regulation three in front of the posts. Captain Pieter-Steph du Toit opted for another scrum, looking to milk cards.

It was akin to putting all the chips in and calling the All Blacks’ bluff, only for the Kiwi reserve front row to come up with pocket aces and win the big pot.

They held firm, and Fletcher Newell popped open Gerhard Steenekamp to win a huge penalty, escaping from the situation. The Boks left again with zero points. This is the story of the day: 10 entries into New Zealand’s 22 for a measly return of 0.7 points per entry.

You can bet your bottom dollar that this was not a Tony Brown game plan. Erasmus hinted as much all week, saying ‘we believe it will be a grind’ multiple times.

He knew his halves would kick everything they had, with Grant Williams and Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu tasked with bombing the living daylights out of the All Blacks through high ball raids.

This is not Brown’s style, and not the attacking game South Africa has supposedly evolved under his coaching. Erasmus missed a trick this week, and it cost them the first Test in more ways than one.

The decision to go for a 6-2 split backfired when winger Kurt-Lee Arendse was forced from the field in the 9th minute. When Kolbe succumbed to injury in the 58th, they lost both wingers without an outside back replacement.

Jesse Kriel had to play wing for 71 minutes; Grant Williams moved to the other for the final quarter. Andre Esterhuizen moved into 12 and pushed De Allende to 13. The backline that the Springboks had to play with was certainly not their preferred line-up.

South Africans look at Jasper Wiese’s game and obsess over the power carries and ignore the turnovers that cost them.

Directly after taking the lead 13-12, he tried to run down the sideline out of his 22 from the kickoff and went into touch, a poor decision that resulted in the All Blacks having a lineout in great field position.

On the edge of the All Blacks’ 22, he took a hard carry off 9 directly into the back of Damian Willemse for an obstruction, resulting in a scrum to New Zealand. Willemse shares equal blame for the turnover.

The one-on-one strip by Jordie Barrett lost the ball on the first phase in a key moment. Then he was offside in the way of Jacobson, who was able to strip-steal Grant Williams.

Wiese’s errors in the first half contributed massively to keeping the All Blacks alive. In total, there were 23 turnovers lost by South Africa, a schoolboy performance.

Because they couldn’t put the All Blacks away, they found themselves with the knife against the throat when Will Jordan flipped the game with a shifty kick return and pop pass for a flying Damian McKenzie.

McKenzie lit up Ellis Park, and only a great save from Damian Willemse prevented him from finding Roigard. The knocked-down pass bounced cruelly away from the No.9, ending with a five-metre scrum.

The All Blacks capitalised through Jacobson after a strong break off the back of No.8 Savea, and a 10-point lead blew the game open.

The Boks succumbed to the pressure with desperate cynical play on their goal line, earning two yellow cards which sank the ship, and the final blow came with a Will Jordan try in the corner.

The unusual behaviour from Erasmus signalled weakness to the All Blacks. He moved the team naming to Thursday, a deviation from the regular naming.

He last did that before the Eden Park Test last year too, which delivered a similar game plan and similar disappointment. The pre-game circus with technical laws advisor Jaco Peyper was another sideshow distraction.

When Erasmus shows signs of cracking publicly, he often reverts to his safest hand tactically, picking his most experienced veterans and his simplified version of high-ball rugby. He overrides Tony Brown, picks his oldest squad, and reverts to 2021 rugby.

This is the second time in 12 months he’s done this against the All Blacks. Like last year, he has another chance, like Wellington in Cape Town next week.

But next year, there will be no second chances. They might switch up the team and win in Cape Town under Brown’s plans, but it seems the biggest threat to the Boks in 2027 is possibly Erasmus.