This is rubbish. Everyone knows the All Blacks are World Champions. The IRB rankings prove it. The Springboks cheated that is the only reason they beat The All Blacks this year. Graham Henry's team is invincible unless the ref is paid off.

What alot of crap is being written by either the loosers or a beefed up tranplants (SA's). Get real and play the real game of speed, skill and strength, Rugby League not the cuddle in a huddle. NZ will loose at the world cup, and I am a Kiwi, why! We have no experienced young talent right across the board. To many older players holding on to their jersey, and whats worse the team management/coaches allow this to happen. But wait they are the boss right. Wrong NZers want the trophy, the boss can not deliver the new talent, his track record speaks for itself.

As a saffa I posted an earlier comment on this site praising how the AB second string came close to beating this top Babaas side and full credit to the up an coming AB's. What hacks me off now is how many of you obviously "I played for my first team in under 8's critics" dismiss Habanna's trys as lucky and not worthy of any praise. Keep thinking that boys because it doesn't take much to figure out the AB's game plan - hence the reason for so many intercepts against them! AB's need to wisen up and play WC winning rugby which means varying your tactics occasionally! Boks can't help it if the AB back line is too stupid to read the play and get intercepts of their own! Bring on some more Trinations wooden spoons for the Boks so that they can use them to shore up the tilting WC in the trophy cabinet!

@Kahu: Sure you were watching the same game? For me a fall over try is one which Dan Carter is the master of creating. You know, kick the ball across the field for a big lock to catch it on the line and well..."fall over". Even more boreing that those bok up and unders which at least require a bit of forward pressure at the contact area.

The first baabaas try was scored by a great pickup, 80m run, great accurate inside pass to beat the cover defence. The 2nd an intercept. Fine didn't have to do much. The 3rd created from a great line out, a series of recycled phases, a blind side run, a great draw 2 men and offload and a perfect final pass. No point in getting into an argument about whether this article is relevant or not but come on dude, take the blinkers off!!

Yeah I agree with this article. The South Africans did have the measure over the All Blacks and it was evident in the way they forced our boys into playing panicky rugby.

The other big thing for them is they have learned how to win away from home. South African sides in the past have always been very hard to beat at home, but when they play away from their passionate fans they seem to lose that raw edge that their fans give them.

They are the World Champions but I think they had a very easy road to the World Cup trophy, having been helped by the All Blacks and Wallabies freezing up like a bunch of Possums in the headlights. The World Cup should still be the pinnacle of rugby, but that doesn't make the Tri Nations/Six Nations tournaments irrelevant.

The South Africans are as nuts about rugby as we are. Yes they have the world cup but how many times have they won the tri nations? I think 3 times now to our 9. They played with lots of intensity and earned their win this year. Let them bask in it. They deserve it. I for one do not think it will last long if they persist with their non-rugby style, though. It won't take real rugby teams long to figure out how to run them off their feet again. But at least we have an awesome challenge on our hands now. Hey they even have 2 super 14 wins now too. Game on!

Our AB's are still nr.1 but let us not rest on our laurels. These Boers that make up the Bok forwards are mentaly tougher and physicaly rougher, probably from their years growing up under the African sun. We need to keep working hard and hope they do not hurt Richie and Dan for 2011

For all the talk from Boks about having our number, i take comfort as the real truth is they have the number of a very average, soon to become new zealands 5th or 6th best 1st five eighth journeyman. You can talk about one man team all you like, but the facts are Steven Donald played in every encounter with the boks and also in this baabaas game. In each of these games the all blacks backline has lacked cohesion, the kicking has not been of sufficient depth and a world class player whos the best in his position by a fair way was injured. In the first 2 in S.A it was most noticeable and clearly a great kicking game and playing "the right end of the field" is crucial in Africa. In the 3rd Conrad Smith arguably the player of the NH tour was missing, and a donald-none 12 and 13 in an area where the boks put the most pressure on by coming up offside most the game was simply lways going to be a massive fail. Then the Baabaas where perhaps Donald was given a final chance to shine in a meaningless match. Perhaps even he was given a chance to name his price in Europe with a good performance, unfortunately it was another stuttering one. By the end of next years Super 14 i would expect him to be NZs 5th best first five eigth. As for the bks - hardly a surprise to see Habana so happy - hes not seen the ball all year, and this is the great advantage for the all blacks is that the boks are getting less and less creative in their play, and patting themselves on the back about it. The success of this tour is we have identified which players have failed to step up to the class of test rugby, and we have found some great talent who can - i think next years S14 is where we will see the 7 and 10 who are the understudys to the master, one is a fellow cantab and the other a hurricane respectively. Its no surprise the All Blacks once got consistency in selection shot back to the number 1 slot. We can view next season with new confidence and fingers crossed for no "key" in juries atleast for now

Deno #38 - no,no down with the Republic......off with your head - the All Black 'royalty' has returned in strength !!!!!!!!

A 2nd choice AB team is inappropriate for such a game but the IRB is responsible for that. Because gate takings are not equally shared around the world the Home unions can make a windfall. Tew needs to focus on this issue; he needs a well organised and persistent campaign to gain equally shared gates for tests regardless of where they are played. In the mean time Tew's addiction to profit exhausts the best players. There will be no profit at all if the present playing schedule is maintained. No players no profit. Until equal gate sharing is introduced Henry and Tew need a compromise plan that favours the players.