Ken Borland

All Blacks captain Richie McCaw said yesterday that he is looking forward to taking on the Springboks at Ellis Park, which he described as a top-class venue.

Last year’s meeting between the two sides at the same stadium was a classic, with New Zealand producing a strong finish to win 38-27, and McCaw said he is hoping for a similarly thrilling encounter.

“Playing against the Springboks at Ellis Park is one of the ultimate challenges of Test footy. The atmosphere is great, it’s never easy to play here, it’s pretty daunting but that’s the sort of atmosphere you want to play in. I hope it’s a dry day because both sides want to have a crack,” McCaw said after the All Blacks’ captain’s run was cut short by a thundershower at Ellis Park yesterday.

While today’s Test will mark a special milestone for McCaw as he passes the legendary Colin Meads’ mark of 133 games for the All Blacks, the loose forward typically deflected attention to the team performance.

“Afterwards that might be something to reflect on, but it’s exciting enough just playing the Boks at Ellis Park. It will be nice to sit back and reflect on the game after a good performance,” McCaw said.

The World Cup-holding captain also dismissed the suggestion that the Springboks would bring a one-dimensional game plan to the final game of the Rugby Championship.

“I think they’ll show intent to use the ball when the opportunity presents itself. It was pretty greasy in Wellington, but they still showed intent then. We need to stop them from doing that,” McCaw said.

Whatever the outcome, the Test is bound to add to the history of Springboks/All Blacks clashes and the special bond that exists between the two nations across the Indian Ocean.

“There’s a lot of respect between the All Blacks and the Springboks and, whatever the outcome, I’m sure we’ll have a beer afterwards,” the highly-respected skipper said.

New Zealand captain Richie McCaw was delighted that his 100th Test victory was achieved in such compelling fashion as the All Blacks beat South Africa 32-16 in their Rugby Championship match at Soccer City in Soweto on Saturday.

The world champions scored 20 unanswered second-half points to end the tournament in style and ensure McCaw’s unique landmark was made even more memorable.

“It’s pretty special, a performance like that is why you test yourself and you have to be part of a pretty special team to win 100 Tests.

“The mental side is the most challenging thing in top sport, you have to pitch up regardless of what happened last week. We put in a good performance against Argentina and we needed to back that up if we’re going to keep progressing. I’m just delighted that we did that for the first time this year,” McCaw told a news conference after the game.

While the All Blacks had already clinched the inaugural Rugby Championship title with their 54-15 win over Argentina last weekend, Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer said their performance on Saturday proved that they are worthy world champions.

“They are a great team, we were beaten by a better side today. We obviously still have a long way to go even though we’ve come up from fourth to second on the rankings.

“There’s obviously a big difference between second and first on the rankings and even though the All Blacks might play badly, they always have one or two brilliant players who get them off the hook.

“It will take a special side to beat them and they will need some luck and a referee who gives them all the 50/50 calls,” Meyer said.

The Springbok coach acknowledged that his team had simply made too many mistakes after dominating the first half to secure a 16-12 lead at the break.

“At half-time, we were in the game, we’d played the right game and kept them under pressure. But just after half-time we had a turnover against the best counter-attacking team and that put them ahead.

“Dan Carter was then superb as he controlled the game and it was very difficult for us to catch up. They forced us to take risks and the mistakes came, but they were soft moments,” Meyer complained.

All Blacks coach Steve Hansen said the victory was an all-round effort.

“It was a great game of rugby, it’s not often you get a performance like that against a very good South African team. It was a great victory against a great opponent.

“The whole group is working well together, we’ve got the recipe for the cake right and the mental state is great. The team is well-led by Richie, who has won 100 Tests because he has great mental strength,” Hansen said.

The All Blacks took the game to another level in the second half and McCaw said the two tries they scored between the 41st and 53rd minutes had been the decisive moments.

“We didn’t get a lot of ball in the first half, but traditionally the time just before and after the break are key. We conceded a couple of penalties just before half-time, but straight away we struck back in the second half and that gave the team a lift after we had given ourselves a pretty stern talking to in the shed. From then on we were in control,” McCaw said.

Richie McCaw, celebrating his extraordinary 100th Test win, said after New Zealand’s 32-16 victory over South Africa at Soccer City that the hardest thing at the top level of sport was the mental side of the game.

And that is where the All Blacks had the edge over the Springboks, as well as in the marvellous skills of their backline.

South Africa had dominated for long stages of the first half, without always converting that into points, but coach Heyneke Meyer would have settled for the 10-0 lead after the first quarter, being 16-12 at the break.

But as soon as the second half started, the All Blacks showed why they are the number one-ranked side in the world.

They won possession from the kick-off and, before the first minute had elapsed, fullback Israel Dagg, who broke South African hearts at the same stadium in 2010, had sniffed out the gap, broken through and thrown an overhead pass for the tireless eighthman Kieran Read to latch onto, leading to an easy try for bullocking centre Ma’a Nonu.

Twelve minutes later, the Springboks’ backline defence went horribly awry and the All Blacks’ other centre, Conrad Smith, was able to stroll over for what proved to be the match-winning try.

They were two more of the “soft moments” that have dogged this inexperienced Springbok team through the competition and they come down to lapses in concentration.

“We have to learn from our mistakes and get mentally tougher,” Meyer said after the game. “In the first half, we had them under pressure, they had to keep playing from deep, and at half-time we were in the game, leading 16-12.

“But just after half-time, we had a turnover against the best counter-attacking team and that put them ahead. Dan Carter was then superb as he controlled the game and it was very difficult for us to catch up. They forced us to take risks and the mistakes came, but they were soft moments,” Meyer complained.

“The defensive mistakes were down to a lack of experience, but they should not have happened, because it’s backs against backs. Those were soft moments again.”

The costly mistakes weren’t just on defence, either. If Bryan Habana could have held onto the ball while cutting inside five metres from the line, or the Springboks had maintained possession after a rolling maul had carried them deep into the All Blacks’ 22, they might have been able to put some pressure on the visitors in the final quarter.

Not that this All Blacks team seems overly susceptible to pressure. Despite hardly seeing the ball or being able to get out of their own territory for most of the first half, there was no panic or doubt.

They have a marvellous predatory instinct to strike with precision when the time is right, with Dagg and wing Hosea Gear playing with cat-like stealth and proving too much of a handful for the Springbok defence.

Meyer was being realistic when he said after the game that there was still a big gap between the two teams.

“There’s obviously a big difference between second and first on the rankings, and even though the All Blacks might play badly, they always have one or two brilliant players who get them off the hook.

“It will take a special side to beat them and they will need some luck and a referee who gives them all the 50/50 calls,” Meyer said.

The Springboks will take some heart from New Zealand coach Steve Hansen praising them for being “a great opponent”, but, more importantly, will the youngsters in the South African side take on board the lessons learnt and use it to become better rugby players?

“That’s a very good Springbok team and it will only get better. They will build some character out of today and it was a great victory for us against a great opponent,” Hansen said.

There is certainly no lack of hunger or desire in the Springbok team, and they once again dominated the All Blacks up front in the first half, as well as producing some good attacking play and showing a willingness to get the ball wide.

It will be a long process for this Springbok team to challenge the world champions; that sort of brilliance does not come quickly.

The New Zealand squad currently has six of the most capped All Blacks in history by position: Tony Woodcock (prop, 91 caps), Keven Mealamu (hooker, 99 caps), Richie McCaw (flank, 112 caps), Dan Carter (flyhalf, 91 caps), Ma’a Nonu (inside centre, 72 caps) and Conrad Smith (outside centre, 62 caps); while Owen Franks (40), Andrew Hore (71), Cory Jane (37), Kieran Read (44), Piri Weepu (65) and Sam Whitelock (34) are all well-established on the international stage.

Jean de Villiers, Jannie du Plessis, Habana, Tendai Mtawarira and Ruan Pienaar are the only Springboks with more than 30 caps.

But it seems likely that this Springbok team will be better for their tough experiences this year, and they will be considerably stronger with Schalk Burger, Bismarck du Plessis, JP Pietersen and Frans Steyn back from injury.

But the All Blacks are without doubt the benchmark in world rugby at the moment and the Springboks will be aiming to replicate their composure and brilliance under pressure.

As the hookers (ahem, not the rugby variety!) told me at New Zealand’s Sandton hotel on Saturday night, “Everybody is loving All the Blacks”.

And with good reason. The Springboks will be a better team for Saturday’s lesson.

http://dailymaverick.co.za/article/2012-10-08-springboks-good-but-not-good-enough