Ken Borland

It’s been three long years since the All Blacks lost to the Springboks – and 22 Tests since their previous defeat against anyone (v England at Twickenham on 1 December 2012) – but their coach Steve Hansen is not as concerned with maintaining the winning streak as he is with delivering a quality performance on Saturday at Ellis Park.

Of course, he is in the lovely position of not having to worry if they lose on Saturday, while Bok coach Heyneke Meyer will bear the full brunt of the public’s obsession with beating the number one side in the world for the first time in six attempts.

“For us, it’s not about the winning streak but about the quality of performance, that’s hugely important. Our heads need to be in the right place, our preparation is about getting that right, and then Saturday is fun time.

“But it’s no fun if you don’t play well. But we have a quite a bit of talent in this group and if we play as well as we can, then it will take a good team to beat us,” Hansen said on Thursday.

With some people, including former coach Graham Henry, warning that the All Blacks are setting themselves up for a fall at the World Cup, there have even been suggestions that defeat might be good for New Zealand. Hansen dismissed such notions.

“I’ve never concurred with people saying you need to lose to learn. It hurts to lose, so why do you want to go through that to learn? We learn when we review games that maybe we should have lost, but we won.

“People say sometimes you have to get burnt to learn, but you can tell a flame is hot, you don’t need to put your hand in it,” Hansen said.

The All Blacks coach said Saturday’s Test would be decided by the tight fives and injury has forced the visitors to go with relative rookies at loosehead prop and tighthead lock.

Wyatt Crockett withdrew from selection with bad cuts to the face and has been replaced by Crusaders prop Joe Moody, who comes to his first Test start with a junior commonwealth games bronze medal in wrestling to his name.

Jeremy Thrush will partner with Sam Whitelock in the second row after Brodie Retallick failed to recover from concussion.

The 26-year-old Moody seemed pretty relaxed and was even able to make a subtle dig at his opposite number, the vastly-experienced Jannie du Plessis.

“Jannie is a bit different to what we normally get in New Zealand, he attacks the hooker much more, while our tightheads normally scrum straighter. But we’ve done our homework and I’m sure the scrums will go well,” Moody said.

The All Blacks’ winning streak is about thorough preparation and supreme conditioning, but it’s also about the character of the players under pressure, as Hansen stressed.

“We’ve been able to keep our composure in really tight situations, but we’ve had a bit of luck as well. We practise the moment without pressure so we can do it under pressure. As a group, this team has shown it is mentally strong and has great composure,” Hansen said.

All Blacks team: 15-Israel Dagg, 14-Ben Smith, 13-Conrad Smith, 12-Malakai Fekitoa, 11-Julian Savea, 10-Beauden Barrett, 9-Aaron Smith, 8-Kieran Read, 7-Richie McCaw, 6-Jerome Kaino, 5-Samuel Whitelock, 4-Jeremy Thrush, 3-Owen Franks, 2-Keven Mealamu, 1-Joe Moody. Reserves – 16-Dane Coles, 17-Ben Franks, 18-Charlie Faumuina, 19-Steven Luatua, 20-Liam Messam, 21-Tawera Kerr-Barlow, 22-Colin Slade, 23-Ryan Crotty.

It was a day for the extraordinary at Twickenham on Saturday as the Springboks shaded England 16-15 courtesy of heroic defence, one of the strangest tries ever scored in international rugby and an outlandishly poor decision by the hosts at the end of the Test.

Rain before and throughout the match put paid to any hopes of expansive rugby, but it was still a gripping, thrilling encounter, played with great intensity.

As forecast, England posed the toughest challenge of the tour but, in truth, they were outplayed for long periods before the Springboks reacted to their 10-point lead by making a host of stupid mistakes that let their opponents back into the game.

Having battled their way into a 9-6 lead after a troubled first half, the Springboks piled on the pressure at the start of the second half, but had to rely on quite extraordinary bounces of the ball for their only try. Pat Lambie’s grubber first of all deflected kindly for the visitors, putting them into the England 22. Lock Juandre Kruger then spilt the ball, but it went backwards. The attempted hack clear by England scrumhalf Ben Youngs rebounded off JP Pietersen and flew high towards the tryline, where two England players failed to gather the ball, dropping it into the hands of Willem Alberts, who just had to fall over the line to score.

The Springboks led 16-6 and were poised to shut England out of the game. But it should be a major concern for coach Heyneke Meyer that his team once again failed to follow-through on a commanding position, letting England back into the game through mistakes like kicking directly into touch after taking the ball back into their own 22 or from the kickoff.

England responded by thoroughly dominating territory in the final quarter and, trailing 12-16 with 80 seconds left to play, they won a penalty. But instead of going for the try that would win them the Test, they kicked the penalty but then did not have enough time to get back into the South African half after they failed to win the restart.

England captain Chris Robshaw has been widely criticised for his decision, which was inexplicable. But one could see the worry in England’s eyes all the way back in Johannesburg whenever they contemplated a lineout or even trying to find a way through the Springboks’ outstanding defence.

Well-marshalled by captain Jean de Villiers, South Africa’s defence was phenomenally efficient, with every player willing to get down and dirty for the team as England unleashed wave after wave of big ball-carriers. But there was also minimal flair from the home side and the Springboks, who showed some neat touches on attack despite the conditions, always looked the more likely team to score.

Eben Etzebeth and Duane Vermeulen were once again major factors in the lineout, with England hooker Tom Youngs suffering an awful afternoon with his throwing-in, and the Springboks used their advantage in that set-piece to the maximum.

After a torrid first 15 minutes in which referee Nigel Owens could see only fault in the visitors and no wrong in the English, South Africa dominated territory, keeping England under pressure, and it was pleasing to see Lambie play with such assurance at flyhalf. The 22-year-old kicked especially well, but also ran with the ball and showed some fine touches on attack in a far more balanced display at pivot.

One of the areas where the Springboks struggled was in the scrums, but that was largely due to Owens not seeing loosehead prop Alex Corbisiero scrumming in on the angle against Jannie du Plessis.

Whatever their other shortcomings, the Springboks of today are a hardy, determined bunch and they can be well-pleased with a perfect three-from-three record on tour. Their play was far from faultless but, for a team that is still developing, they showed impressive mettle in absorbing pressure in all three matches and ensuring victory was achieved, even if it was in ugly fashion.

There is no doubt that the future is full of promise for Meyer and this team.

http://dailymaverick.co.za/article/2012-11-26-boks-play-it-by-the-book-victory-first-entertainment-later