What turned into a relatively comfortable victory for the All Blacks over the Stormers in Cape Town this morning also contained some harsh lessons about playing in South Africa.
Dave Rennie’s men scored six tries in winning 38-21 but lost two players to yellow cards in the second half, conceded far too many penalties overall (nine in the first half alone), and only exerted their dominance in the final 20 minutes.
There was also the predictable influence of the television match official, who ruled out a try from a lineout drive for the Stormers early in the second half but whose intervention led to Simon Parker’s sinbinning from the same incident, the home side scoring immediately anyway via the same route.
Rarely out of the game in tandem with the similarly officious English referee Matthew Carley, the TMO also found fault with an All Blacks forward pass in open play – without reviewing a try – and was to the fore when sinbinning fullback Josh Moorby at the end for not releasing a player on the tryline, an act which led to a penalty try for the Stormers.
It was odd, though, that the reason for Billy Proctor’s departure in the second half was not looked at more closely. Contesting a ruck, the centre was cleaned out and suffered a shoulder injury but also appeared to wear an opponent's shoulder to the head. No action was taken.
Whatever the All Blacks’ thoughts about the officiating, however, they must get used to it. Carley will referee one of the three Tests against the Boks, with another Northern Hemisphere official, Nika Amashukeli, also involved. Australian Angus Gardner will take control of the third.
They must also get used to a scrum and aerial assault during this toughest of tours. The All Blacks conceded four scrum penalties, two by prop Pauliasi Tosi in the first half, and will be targeted here for the duration.
The high ball was also a problem, with Beauden Barrett, Rieko Ioane and Leroy Carter all struggling. Gains were made in this area last month but it was a problem again this morning, although the very different combinations and recent lack of rugby for Barrett and Ioane may have played a part.
A very bright and accurate start led to a try from a lineout drive for hooker Samisoni Taukei’aho, but from there the Stormers took control by slowing the pace of the game to a level they were more comfortable with.
A debatable yellow card for a high tackle for midfielder Anton Lienert-Brown was swiftly followed by a yellow for Parker, meaning the All Blacks played with 13 men for eight minutes.
Veteran loose forward Deon Fourie’s reply from a lineout drive levelled the score and, while the Stormers were reasonably clunky on attack, in keeping with their stage of the (pre-)season, they enjoyed success with their kicking game.
Any flow was sucked from the game as the Stormers composed themselves. Proctor dropped the ball cold with Ioane and the excellent Peter Lakai outside him.
However, shortly afterwards, Ioane, whose last Test was against Wales last November, made a scintillating break finished by Parker in the left corner.
It was a reminder of the threat this team possesses when they play with patience, and they were good value for the 14-7 halftime scoreline.
The feelgood factor disappeared after the break, however, when a short ball from Fourie put wing Seabelo Senatla under the posts and the home crowd suddenly sensed a monumental upset with a quarter remaining.
Prop Siale Lauaki, lock Sam Darry, loose forward Ethan Blackadder and hooker Asafo Aumua all made their presence felt off the bench, however, with Darry making an extremely important intervention in getting back to snuff out a threat and Aumua powering over for his team’s final try.
Before that, a Lakai break put Carter over the line, Ioane showed good vision and strength to go over, and Moorby dotted down for his first in Tests after a brilliant one-handed pick up when chasing an excellent Jacomb clearance.
Jacomb, who along with Lauaki made his All Blacks debut, showed some good touches.
Fellow first-five Barrett, on the other hand, mixed the good with the not so good.
Skipper Patrick Tuipulotu told Sky afterwards: “They put a lot of pressure on us. We made a lot of mistakes tonight. A lot of the messaging was to keep our discipline and try to play with the ball in hand.
“In the end we managed to hold the ball, not give away as many penalties, and tire them out.
“[The win] was very important. I think the first game is always the toughest… you don’t really know what you’re coming up against. The Stormers… really tested us tonight.”
The All Blacks may face more of the same against the Sharks in Durban on Wednesday morning NZT.
All Blacks 38 (Samisoni Taukei’aho, Simon Parker, Rieko Ioane, Leroy Carter, Josh Moorby, Asafo Aumua tries; Beauden Barrett 3 cons, Josh Jacomb con)
Stormers 21 (Deon Fourie, Seabelo Senatla tries, penalty try; Jaqeen Ahmed 2 cons)
Halftime: 14-7
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