Thirty years on from the All Blacks’ first Test series win in South Africa, Dave Rennie’s men have taken their first step towards making their own history with a 33-16 victory over the Springboks in Johannesburg that even the so-called “Incomparables” would be proud of.
How fitting, then, that Sean Fitzpatrick, the skipper from 1996, was standing alongside the current captain Ardie Savea as the anthems played in the high citadel of South African rugby before this famous win.
It was appropriate not only because the man universally known as Fitzy presents a direct link to that tour and all that it meant to New Zealand but also because his fellow front rowers helped the All Blacks turn the game at Ellis Park this morning.
With Ethan de Groot, who started the Test despite suffering from illness and carrying a knee injury, under pressure from the Boks, the All Blacks conceded six scrum penalties before replacement George Bower helped solidify the set piece and fellow bench players Asafo Aumua and Fletcher Newell turned it into a weapon.
Breaking down the All Blacks 'impressive' win over the Springboks - Watch on TVNZ+
The scrum penalty earned by the All Blacks in the shadow of their posts in the 56th minute, after they had conceded several in succession, may be an enduring memory for the supporters of the team around the world and, who knows, may even feature in highlights clips a few decades from now.
“We’ll always debate scrums and I think every team does,” coach Rennie said afterwards. “You get penalised and you question whether they are walking around – they got penalised for walking around eventually and that was a key moment in the game.”
It was a nice line which praised his men and questioned the tactics of the opposition at the same time and delivered with a lightness of touch that has been a hallmark of Rennie’s since he began.
He refused to publicly consider what the victory meant for his personal CV but suffice to say it will be a highlight; although victories over the Boks in South Africa were not foreign to him during his time with the Wallabies.
This was his fourth Test in charge of New Zealand. Every Test is an All Blacks’ coach’s “biggest” but there is no diminishing the importance of this one and the resounding victory at the end of it.
Five tries to one is a dominant performance in anyone’s language but if Will Jordan’s double and the tries by Josh Moorby, Fabian Holland and Luke Jacobson was evidence of the visitors’ clinical edge, the way the All Blacks responded to the early intensity of the world champions and a scrum that was on the brink of being demolished speaks to something else.
It is surely a testament to the culture of a team that, looking from the outside in, is presumably very different to how it appeared by the end of Scott Robertson’s reign late last year.
“We’re still in our infancy – we’re still getting our head around exactly how we want to play,” Rennie said. “We’ve got some good young men coming through and it was nice to get a result tonight.”
What does the victory mean in the context of the four-Test series?
“It’s massive – you’ve got a leg up, obviously,” Rennie replied. “It doesn’t guarantee anything and what we know is they’re such a good side.
“Next week is going to be just as tough. It’s nice to be one up. We’ll enjoy a quiet beer. There are a number of guys who will have to back up on Tuesday and then again on Saturday – especially with a couple of injuries tonight.”
Prop de Groot and lock Josh Lord will miss Wednesday morning’s (NZT) match against the Lions and probably the second Test in Cape Town, after clashing heads near the end of the first half.
Ofa Tu’ungafasi and Jamie Hannah are on their way to South Africa as cover.
Looking back on the match, there was a rope-a-dope feel to the way the All Blacks turned an apparent scrum weakness into a strength and denied the Boks points, and once world rugby’s heavyweights started to feel the nagging pull of scoreboard pressure their skills fell apart along with their accuracy.
The astute Rennie and his fellow coaches had clearly identified halfback Grant Williams’ defensive frailties and they were relentlessly targeted, another win in the so-called battle of wits with rival Rassie Erasmus.
Virtually everything is measurable in the game these days and South Africa’s failure to convert pressure to points was pointed to by Rennie afterwards. He said the Boks score an average of 5.5 points in every visit to the opposition’s 22m area. This morning they scored only 0.9, while the All Blacks scored 3.7.
“I reckon that’s a big stat,” he said. “We were able to convert when we got down there and they weren’t tonight.
“I’m sure it will be a massive focus for them next week.”
A word, too, on referee Matthew Carley, who did an admirable job after a week of pressure from both sides in the press and was talked to throughout by aggrieved Boks' players.
The Englishman twice overruled television match official Mike Adamson on tenuous foul play queries, including one against skipper Ardie Savea, and then rightly sinbinned two Boks replacements for cynical play on their own tryline.
Skipper Savea, who had made high contact with bruising Boks No.8 Jasper Wiese, said he was “nervous” when the tackle was brought to Carley’s attention.
Rennie, though, was in no doubt about the law: “Technically it’s the right call. When Ardie hits him, [Wiese’s] head comes forward and that means his first impact is on the body… if the head goes back the first impact is straight on the head. It’s really good refereeing and good to see at this level.”
Rennie said some of his men would have to back up against the Lions - at Ellis Park again - and again for Sunday morning's second Test at DHL Stadium where the All Blacks received their warm welcome three weeks ago.
History is calling and there is still much work to do.
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