Spanking an old Springboks side not the best yardstick

I’m not sure South Africa – or at least Saturday night’s iteration – are that good a yardstick.

That was an old Springboks side. A team of Rugby World Cup winners nearer the end of their careers than the start.

I was reminded of New Zealand’s 1991 squad, in that regard.

Starting Malcom Marx would be a help to South Africa. As would picking some of the more youthful personnel, who beat Australia in the first round of The Rugby Championship.

I don’t want to diminish what the All Blacks did, in beating the Springboks 35-20 at Mt Smart Stadium. But I also think it would be premature to proclaim that New Zealand is suddenly the team to beat at the upcoming Rugby World Cup, on the back of claiming that scalp.

That said, when the All Blacks were good on Saturday, they were very, very good.

Their opening salvo was superb. Physical, skillful and playing at speed, New Zealand produced a level of rugby that will challenge any team this year.

But where did that go, at 20-3? How did the match become start-top? Why did the All Blacks kick so often and allow South Africa to get into a set-piece-to-set-piece grind?

That suited the ageing Springboks, with their rock-solid scrum and increasingly effective rolling maul.

It’s to the All Blacks’ absolute credit that they absorbed South Africa’s pressure and then still had enough quality to kill the game off. It just would have been nice to see them try to maintain the tempo of the first 20 minutes for longer.

If there’s something I’ll take away from the match, it’s the All Blacks’ vigour at the breakdown.

We have worried about this team being bullied and we’ve lamented their inability to physically impose themselves upon opponents.

The All Blacks have been better at that so far this year and that’s something that should really encourage their fanbase.

They should now give the Wallabies a hiding in their home-and-away clashes and then we can look forward to the Springboks at Twickenham on August 26.

I watched a bit of New Zealand’s run to seventh place, at the World Rugby U20 Championship in South Africa.

Our U20 side has skill and pace, but no grunt. The forwards all appeared good with ball in hand, but not so flash at what used to be considered the core roles.

That’s where the All Blacks are impressing me at the moment and that’s where New Zealand rugby as a whole has to place more emphasis.

Will Jordan was terrific on Saturday and his performance has generated plenty of headlines since. But the wing is not where real rugby games are won.

We appear to have lost sight of that at age-group level but, pleasingly, someone’s reminded the All Blacks that backs are still only as good as the platform laid for them by forwards.

So I’m heartened by what I’ve seen from the team thus far. In fact, pleasantly surprised would be more accurate.

I feared that we had become soft touches. That we’d given up trying to compete physically and that this coaching group was out of ideas.

Sterner tests await the All Blacks than South Africa could muster on Saturday night.

That’s not to say these Springboks won’t rouse themselves at some stage this year. But a few of them looked past it on Saturday and the average nights might become more prevalent than the good ones.

These All Blacks are in the ascendant, though, and that’s a pretty good place to be this close to a world cup.