'Not to the same standard that we've got': Where the All Blacks are disadvantaged against Boks

South African rugby pundits have questioned the strength of the All Blacks bench after another second half fade in Mendoza which saw the home side win the second half.

Whilst the All Blacks did not collapse defensively, after being up 31-0 at the break, they lost the second stanza 12-10 as Argentina scored a late try after the buzzer.

The Springboks have named a 6-2 bench split stacked with forwards like Malcolm Marx, Duane Vermeulen and Pieter-Steph du Toit which is a clear advantage to South Africa according to rugby scribes Mark Keohane and Zelim Nel.

The second half performance against Argentina by the All Blacks brought back memories of last year’s Twickenham test argued Keohane.

“They were outstanding for 65 minutes against England at Twickenham and let England back in, they were 25-6 up and ended at 25-all,” Keohane recalled on SA Rugby Mag. 

“They were scrambling to save that game. You just got that feeling in the second half, Argentina got back into the game.

“41-12.. is that a thing that they don’t quite have the bench that South Africa has.

“To go 31-0 up, to be 41-5 up, they didn’t really stick them away.

“Is that the one advantage that we’ve got over many teams, is what comes off our bench?”

“Absolutely,” Zelim Nel answered.

Nel argued that the All Blacks bench ‘is not up to the same standard’ as the Springboks which includes too many world-class players.

With a near fully fit squad, South Africa has been able to bring players to New Zealand early to prepare for the Mt Smart Test after a strong performance in Pretoria over the Wallabies.

“As we’ve just said, our bench is good enough to be a top tier Test nation on its own,” Nel explained.

“Obviously we need 15 players, point I’m trying to make is world-class players come off our bench.

“I don’t think you can argue that the All Blacks have got a weak bench, but certainly not to the same standard that we’ve got.

“In terms of guys that have played, have experience, are in form and crushers of the gain line.

“We’ve got an abundance of those sorts of players. That definitely makes a difference.”

At Ellis Park last year the Springboks were hampered by injuries early which saw them lose fullback Damian Willemse and right wing Jesse Kriel in the first 20 minutes.

Compounding problems was a less-than-desired showing by hooker Joseph Dweba which required Malcolm Marx to be subbed into the game early.

As a result, the bench was not able to be used in the final quarter to provide a boost and the All Blacks scored two late tries in the final 10 minutes to come away with the win.