MARC HINTON
Last updated 07:38, September 17 2017
Steve Hansen, of course, saw this coming in his crystal ball. But
surely not this soon, and not this decisively.
Earlier in the week the All Blacks coach had urged us to have
patience, and promised that his hot-and-cold All Blacks would flip the form
switch when it mattered. He nigh on guaranteed it.
Well, how about the first clash of the season against the old enemy
Springboks at a full (30,021) QBE Stadium in Albany? This eight tries to nil,
57-0 clinical, record-breaking demolition of the South Africans was their best
display of the season, without a shadow of doubt. More sustained than Sydney.
More emphatic than the series opener against the British and Irish Lions.
It was sublime and scintillating and sensational. Rugby of the
highest quality – from one team at least.
It was the All Blacks at their absolute best. The starters laid the
platform superbly and the supersubs came on and finished the business, going
right until the final hooter.
It was also the New Zealanders' fifth straight victory over the
South Africans, their eighth on the bounce at home and their 10th in the last
11 matchups. It puts them in a near unassailable position in the Rugby
Championship, with their fourth straight victory taking them to 19 points, with
the second-placed Boks stuck on 11. They can engrave the trophy now.
"We're very, very proud of it," said Hansen of his
team's biggest ever win over the Boks. "We're trying to get better all the
time, and have been working on different things. We came in tonight pretty
clear in how we wanted to play, and a lot of those things came off."
On a stellar night for many in black, was Rieko Ioane their best?
The 20-year-old continued his brilliant play this season, adding another try
and looking razor-sharp in all he did. His 12 carries yielded a game-high 171
metres, with 11 defenders beaten.
"He showed a lot of gas," observed Hansen afterwards.
"He has become a crowd favourite and every time he touches the ball the
whole place lights up. But he has got that ability to really scoot."
Aaron Smith and Beauden Barrett were both also up somewhere near
their best, with Barrett's goalkicking accuracy (eight from nine) hopefully
silencing his critics permanently, and his distribution spot-on. Nehe
Milner-Skudder, with two tries, was also busy and dangerous in all he did.
Up front the scrum survived a few early anxious moments, the
lineout smashed a wobbly Springbok one and Sam Cane, Brodie Retallick, Dane
Coles and replacement Scott Barrett showcased their special abilities. The
bench were on the money.
The All Blacks produced a magic first 40 as they pounced on
practically every opportunity created, ran in four tries and raced out to a
31-0 lead.
The tries were all highlight reel stuff, too, with those
instinctive halves Smith and Barrett all over them with their creativity.
The first, to Ioane (his seventh in seven tests) came when Smith
reacted with lightning quickness from a penalty, took the tap and put in a
pinpoint left-footed kick into space for the wing to race on to.
From there the catch-your-breath moments came regularly.
Milner-Skudder snaffled an intercept, found Beauden Barrett, and then took a
no-look, back-flick pass from the No 10 to finish what he started; Scott
Barrett (on for Liam Squire who failed an HIA) scored when Coles and
Milner-Skudder turned a short Barrett crosskick into a gilt-edged opportunity;
and big Retallick finished the first-half scoring thundering down the middle to
finish an opportunity created by Ioane's speed and dazzling feet and Coles'
fabulous support play.
Of course, we wondered whether there would be a dialling off of the
effort in the second half. It had happened before.
But this time they stayed on point, with their line intact, and
adding four further tries over the second 40. Milner-Skudder dotted down for
his second off Beauden Barrett's superb cutout pass and Ofa Tu'ungafasi came
off the bench to produce a power score (his first in test footy) off the back
of a short lineout.
Lima Sopoaga got on the board by finishing a blockbuster run from
Anton Lienert-Brown (sitting Handre Pollard on his bum in the process) and
Codie Taylor completed the rout off a lineout drive.
At the end skipper Kieran Read, himself on top of his game,
admitted the nil conceded was as satisfying as the 57 scored. "The Boks
threw everything at us in that first half, and it was a pretty intense half. I
don't know how we were up by so many points. We probably got four opportunities
and took all four of them. Our defence stayed strong and to not let them in
over the second half was a credit to that."
A final thought: how deliciously good was it to have a test
controlled so expertly and efficiently, without a hint of controversy, by Nigel
Owens who confirmed his status as the best referee in the business.
All Blacks 57 (Rieko Ioane, Nehe Milner-Skudder 2,
Scott Barrett, Brodie Retallick, Ofa Tu'ungafasi, Lima Sopoaga, Codie Taylor
tries; Beauden Barrett pen, 7 cons), South Africa 0. Ht: 31-0.
- Stuff
