Kiwi rugby media: The All Blacks are back big time

The All Blacks didn’t just beat the Springboks at Ellis Park. According to New Zealand’s leading rugby writers, they out-thought them, outlasted them and, when it mattered most, outplayed them.

All Blacks beat Springboks

The reaction in New Zealand to the All Blacks 33-16 win has been as emphatic as the final 25 minutes at Ellis Park.

NZ Herald’s Gregor Paul, writing from Johannesburg, went biggest.

“If there was any doubt about whether New Zealand are on the way back, starting to look like the best version of themselves, then it was surely blown away by an epic win at Ellis Park in which their resilience was extraordinary.”

Paul described the victory as a “brilliantly orchestrated rope-a-dope”, with the All Blacks absorbing the Springboks’ power, surviving a scrum that for long periods was being demolished and then finding the rugby intelligence and composure to turn the Test.

His assessment of the difference between the teams was brutal.

“They were able to win because they had more rugby intelligence than the Boks. More skills to use in the moments that mattered most, had calmer heads, and a better read than the Springboks on what it would take to win the game.”

That will sting in South Africa.

The Springboks have built their world champion status on an ability to problem-solve and win the decisive moments. At Ellis Park, Paul’s view was that those qualities belonged to New Zealand.

He felt the All Blacks’ resistance was among the most impressive any team had produced against the Springboks in the past two years.

Stuff’s Marc Hinton was equally impressed, drawing comparisons with the celebrated 1996 All Blacks who became the first New Zealand team to win a Test series in South Africa.

“With shades of 1996’s Incomparables,” wrote Hinton, Dave Rennie’s All Blacks “absorbed a heap of pressure from the big, bad Springboks” before punishing the world champions with their strikepower and resilience.

Hinton’s point, like Paul’s, was that the 17-point winning margin told only part of the story.

The All Blacks were being hammered at the scrum. The Boks repeatedly opted for another scrum when they could have taken points. New Zealand looked vulnerable and South Africa appeared to have them exactly where they wanted them.

Then everything changed.

The All Blacks survived, won a scrum penalty of their own and found another gear. Fabian Holland’s chargedown try accelerated the momentum shift and Luke Jacobson and Will Jordan finished the job.

Hinton described George Bower’s contribution from the bench as “manful”, while Jordan again demonstrated his finishing class with two tries.

The numbers were damning for the Boks: five tries to one and just three South African points in the second half.

Hinton wondered how the Springboks could possibly have lost by 17 points when they appeared in control midway through the second half.

Paul provided the Kiwi answer.

South Africa had the scrum and the box kick. New Zealand had more.

And once the All Blacks neutralised the scrum, they had the skill, intelligence, patience and finishing ability to dismantle the world champions.

The Kiwis aren’t claiming the series after one Test.

They are claiming something potentially more significant.

Their All Blacks are starting to look like the All Blacks again.

*Just two of Saturday’s Ellis Park heroes will go again on Tuesday at Ellis Park when the All Blacks play their fourth and final club match in Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry Tour against the Lions. They are unbeaten in four matches, including Saturday’s 33-16 win against the Springboks. Richie Mo’unga plays his first match for the All Blacks since the 2023 World Cup final in Paris.