Henry's men step up for vital game

The All Blacks should be standing tall after their mighty effort in Wellington on Saturday night.

Not everyone was tipping an All Blacks win against the world champions but Graham Henry's men stepped up exactly when they needed to.

The lineout was dramatically better than it has been especially in the first half when they kept it simple.

And tactically Henry, Steve Hansen and Wayne Smith got most things right.

It certainly helped their cause that Dan Carter continued his superb form.

He showcased his full array of skills at the Cake Tin and kept the Springboks on the back foot for long periods.

And in the forwards the All Blacks front row, Brad Thorn and skipper Rodney So'oialo led the way.

Ali Williams impressed, too, with a huge workrate and with every game Jerome Kaino plays he gets better in the No 8 jersey.

The test was full of vigour as we expected it to be.

South Africa were severely disadvantaged by some of their coloured players in the backs who struggled in the cold. And they got their loose forward selection wrong. They should have had Ryan Kankowski or even Luke Watson at No 8.

Joe van Niekerk was a passenger for long periods.

When he runs with the ball he doesn't create anything and it's a disadvantage for the Boks.

There were a number of decisions made by the coaching staff during the game that will have many in the Republic questioning the lack of experience in the coach's box.

The decision to bring on Francois Steyn for Butch James was a strange one.

James had been a key player for the Boks in the first half.

And the decision to bring on Percy Montgomery for Conrad Jantjes was just as confusing.

It would have made sense to have Steyn come on for Adrian Jacobs at centre that would have given the Boks backs a much better platform in the middle of the park.

Still, it was a great test match.

The tackling and commitment from both sides was outstanding.

It was just a pity referee Stuart Dickinson played such a big part in the game.

He was blowing penalties that just weren't penalties and he had far too much influence on the game.

One call he got wrong was not yellow-carding Thorn after he dumped John Smit on his back after the whistle had gone in the first half.

It was silly stuff from Thorn a player who should know better and he was very lucky he stayed on the field.

While there was a bit of ill-discipline, most of it was understandable because there was an awful lot of pressure but the Thorn incident was over the top.

Williams surprised me with his workrate, especially given the ankle problem he had in the build-up to the game.

But I suggest he give kicking away - there's only one Zinzan Brooke.

Jean de Villiers and Bryan Habana were outstanding.

The Tri-Nations is a long haul and the All Blacks will do well to repeat this performance in Dunedin.

 

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