It took the All Blacks until the final quarter to overtake the Lions in Johannesburg to maintain their unbeaten record in South Africa but the 41-35 victory may turn out to be excellent preparation for the second Test against the Boks.
It was far too loose at times from the All Blacks but Dave Rennie’s men now travel south to Cape Town for what will be another colossal challenge with lock Patrick Tuipulotu getting a valuable 40 minutes into his legs and a loose forward in Ethan Blackadder who just played the game of his life.
Rennie needs to replace injured Josh Lord for the second Test – hence Tuipulotu, the All Blacks skipper this morning at Ellis Park, leaving the field at halftime.
He will likely start alongside Fabian Holland at the DHL Stadium on Sunday morning after not being involved in last weekend’s 33-16 victory over the world champions.
“I’m ready to go,” Tuipulotu said afterwards. “Forty minutes [today] - but altitude’s a different thing so hopefully [I’ll be] feeling better once we hit Cape Town. Yeah, if I’m selected I’ll be good to go.”
Blackadder, meanwhile, played his heart out in the No.7 jersey and was the best player on the pitch – perfect timing following Anton Segner’s tour-ending ankle problem.
Segner was a late withdrawal before the first Test due to what the All Blacks described as “acute inflammatory arthritis” after he presented with a swollen ankle.
He recently had minor surgery to “wash out an infection” in the joint and will travel to Cape Town to support his teammates but his tour is over and he will presumably travel home afterwards.
Simon Parker replaced Segner on the bench last weekend but should Rennie want a slightly more mobile option there, Blackadder would appear to be an ideal choice to partner fellow loose forward Peter Lakai as an impact player.
It would be a good reward for Blackadder and a testament to his resilience after a horror run of injuries over the past five years.
“He was all over the park,” Rennie said of Blackadder. “He got his hands on a lot of ball post tackle. He carried a lot for us and made a lot of tackles. Support play. He’s got a big engine, Ethan, he’s all arms and legs and had a massive impact on the game tonight.”
The man himself said: “I had a mindset going out there of just having fun and I did.”
Blackadder added of his two tries: “I haven’t scored two since club rugby back in 2016 so, yeah, pretty lucky.”
Also rolling back the years was centre Rieko Ioane, whose two scorching runs resulted in two tries, and No.10 Richie Mo’unga who made a couple of early errors but then found his rhythm nicely on attack and who scrambled superbly on defence.
Mo’unga’s last game for the All Blacks was the 2023 World Cup final in Paris and he has returned from three years in Japan with his speed and agility intact.
“He had a lot of nice touches and he’ll be better for that time on the park," Rennie said. "It’s not just about jumping into the 10 jersey – it’s the connection with everyone around him… we’re really pleased with his contribution.”
Mo’unga will not necessarily be putting pressure on Ruben Love as the team’s top No.10 but he showed enough to suggest he will probably be at least second in the pecking order by the tour’s end.
The way the Lions started each half meant the All Blacks had to dig far deeper than they would have expected to get the job done.
There was some sloppy early stuff from halfback Noah Hotham, who has only recently joined the team as injury cover, and some of the decision-making was a world away from the clinical way the All Blacks went about their work at the same venue against the Boks.
But in fighting back from a 35-17 deficit in the last 18 minutes by scoring four unanswered tries, the All Blacks showed a depth of resolve that impressed Rennie.
“Our boys showed a lot of character to fight our way back into that,” he said. “We created so many opportunities – you look at the numbers, we dominated defenders beaten and line breaks and offloads – but we probably didn’t do the obvious enough.”
The scrummaging power of Xavier Numia, on the bench at late notice due to recent arrival Ofa Tu’ungafasi’s illness, plus that of Saula Ma’u, on debut, was obvious – another positive.
And beyond all of that, the way the Lions played – with vision, skill and ambition – and contested hard throughout, gave credibility to the idea that such games against club sides are viable.
The All Blacks had won their previous three games against the Stormers, Sharks and Bulls by a combined 142-40.
In the end the All Blacks’ depth and fitness was too much but the Lions showed the way. Hopefully, the other franchises take note for next time.
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