The Springboks identified the All Blacks dark arts, matched them and won in Cape Town. For the Boks to win at the FNB Stadium in Soweto they will have to dabble in their own world of dark arts.

At Ellis Park, the All Blacks got over, through and between the Boks at the breakdown. They disrupted South Africa’s rhythm, slowed the ball and turned the contact area into their territory.

The Boks responded at DHL Stadium.

Springboks vs All Blacks: Boks counter the dark arts

They attacked the breakdown with the same aggression and pushed the same boundaries. Australian referee Angus Gardner allowed both teams to fight for the ball instead of reducing the Test to a penalty festival, and South Africa were much better equipped for the fight.

This is what the best teams do. They adapt.

On the latest Keo & Zels show, we unpacked Rassie Erasmus’s pointed response to Dave Rennie’s complaints about the Springbok scrum and the supposed dark arts in Cape Town.

Rassie was not angry with Rennie. The two are friends and both understand that Test rugby is not played by Boy Scouts.

His issue was opinion being presented as fact.

Coaches are permitted to submit five clips through the official World Rugby review process. Rassie submitted his five. Rennie submitted his five. That is the protocol.

Rassie also knows the influence of building a public narrative. If he were to repeatedly say the All Blacks clean out illegally at the breakdown, the media, supporters and match officials would spend the week looking for illegal New Zealand cleanouts.

So, naturally, he repeatedly used that exact example.

The message was delivered.

The All Blacks push the boundaries at the breakdown. They also use upright choke tackles that can move dangerously high when the technique is poor. The issue is not that New Zealand alone operates in rugby’s grey areas. Every elite team does it.

South Africa does it.

You do not become number one or two in the world without testing what a referee will tolerate. The problem is inconsistency in what gets penalised, what gets ignored and what gets coached.

WATCH HOW THE ALL BLACKS CHEAT 

If a player illegally slows the ball and the referee shouts, “Hands off,” the damage has already been done. The defending team has achieved what it wanted and been allowed to reset its line.

That is not refereeing. It is rewarding the infringement.

The same consistency must apply to choke tackles and contact around the neck or head. A punch is not the same as a badly executed tackle, but dangerous contact cannot be ignored in one incident and punished in the next because one replay looked worse in slow motion.

The Boks’ response in Cape Town was the real positive.

They did not spend the Test waiting for Gardner to rescue them. Malcolm Marx attacked the ball, Siya Kolisi emptied the tank and the Bok pack fought New Zealand for every centimetre.

The world champions adjusted and restored parity in the series.

FNB Stadium will be another battle of strength, skill and dark arts. The All Blacks will again test every boundary. But so will the Boks.

I would not expect anything less from the sport’s best two teams.