Jeremy Guscott’s column: Bok boys can do lot more than just bash

It would be a huge surprise if these sides continue to play this type of expansive rugby in the World Cup, but for now they are wowing the Championship and it’s refreshing to see teams of this calibre play with such freedom.
Usually due to the high stakes nature of top-end rugby, we rarely see teams break out and try something new as it’s a results driven business and failure costs jobs and livelihoods.
However, due to this year’s trimmed down Championship, and with the World Cup looming, stakes are not so high and coaches Heyneke Meyer and Steve Hansen have cleverly decided to use this tournament to experiment with players, formations,  strategy and tactics and we’re seeing the best that rugby has to offer.
The intense, high tempo ferocity with which both of these sides operate was absolutely spectacular. I thought New Zealand were setting out to run the Boks off their feet so that the last 15 minutes would be comfortable,  but it was far from that and South Africa refused to go quietly in the final quarter.
But the period of the yellow card to Sam Whitelock and the peculiar situation of uncontested scrums went against South Africa and cost them victory. Rugby people talk about the top two inches being the deciding factor of big matches and there could not have been a more stark contrast between smart rugby and stupid rugby.
No-one knows why the Springboks allowed it go to uncontested scrums when they had a replacement prop who could play on the tighthead side. It’s not necessarily a captain’s remit to sort out that situation, but rather like when the pitwall in F1 will instruct a driver what to do, the coaches should have rectified the situation because it was the deciding factor, particularly when  the Boks a man advantage but couldn’t make it pay at scrum time.
As they didn’t convert any of that pressure into points when 20-17 ahead, the match went away from them. Rugby games, like sport in general, have ebbs and flows and from that moment on it seemed that South Africa went into an ebb they were unable to bring themselves out of, which was unfortuante because up until then they had played a great game of rugby.
They had dominated key areas to that point – the scrum went particularly well and they had the breakdown well-marshalled against the experienced trio of Richie McCaw, Liam Messam and Kieran Read.  The Bok combination of Schalk Burger, Francois Louw and Heinrich Brussow, along with Bismarck du Plessis, got the upper hand and the All Blacks seemed to have no answer to the driving maul.
Heyneke Meyer is clearly using these games as a development tool because the driving maul was not utilised as much as it has been previously and instead the Boks kept ball in hand and tried to play a more expansive game and score some tries. And the tries they did score were just amazing.
So many sides fold under the pressure of Kiwi kicking as they are almost forced to run the ball back, risking turnovers. South Africa instead return kicks with kicks most of the time, and their first try came off the back of a great return kick from Willie le Roux and a forced turnover before the lightening break and inside pass set Le Roux through. It was the sort of try the All Blacks usually score but it was produced by the side that notoriously catches the lineout and mauls it over from 10 yards.
Handre Pollard had another great game for South Africa at 10, taking the ball flat and challenging the All Blacks’ defensive line. Damian de Allende and Jesse Kriel made yards most times they carried also, and considering they are so young and up against the most experienced international centre partenship there has been in Ma’a Nonu and Conrad Smith, they were nothing short of admirable.
Kriel’s try was a piece of quality finishing and signals the power of this youngster to cut a line between Nonu and Smith – a door that is usually double locked solid. But Kriel slipped through and bisected Israel Dagg and the covering Ben Smith to go under the posts.
However, true to form, New Zealand hit back straight away with a similar score from their speedy hooker Dane Coles which stopped the Boks from consolidating their advantage. There’s a reason why New Zealand are the No.1 team in the world and there’s a reason Richie McCaw will go down as a true great – they didn’t just hold out for the win they powered on.
Lima Sopoaga announced himself on the world stage with a fine perfomance at 10. He made some good runs, was tactically sound with the boot and made some good decisions. But for a dodgy couple of kicks he looked the real deal which was not a surprise given the experience he was surrounded by. That’s the advantage the Kiwis have – new caps play alongside the best of the best which helps them integrate. Sapoaga did himself no harm and will be there or thereabouts to challenge Dan Carter, Beauden Barrett and Colin Slade. Other sides with realistic hopes of lifting the World Cup will have sat up and taken note because this really was the benchmark. To play at such a ferocious pace for 80 minutes sets these teams apart and it is why they are No.1 and No.2 in the world. Few teams can play at this tempo without errors creeping in.
Despite the defeat there were positives for South Africa in their attitude, it was just disappointing the brains trust went missing for 15 minutes in the second half. In contrast, McCaw’s clever linout try showed the Kiwis never switch off. It’s a massive win for New Zealand, away from home at Ellis Park where the Boks hate to lose. It was their fortress but the All Blacks razed it to the ground.