The All Blacks were too good for the Springboks in New Zealand for the second time running as they came out comfortable 31-17 winners in Wellington earlier today. They scored four tries to two, continuing their great start to the Tri Nations.
The Springboks were once again down to 14 men early on as Danie Rossouw, playing in his 50th Test match, was yellow carded by referee Alain Rolland for his part in a scuffle with Richie McCaw. His side suffered while he was away, conceding two tries but not much more as Dan Carter had a poor night with the boot.
Rossouw came back on to score for the visitors, keeping them in touch at 13-7. Rene Ranger then dived over in the corner on debut, followed by Israel Daggs great individual effort that brought up the bonus point for the second week in a row.
Schalk Burger scored later on for the Boks as they played better in the second half but struggled to crack the line. The All Blacks were better in pretty much all departments and the Tri Nations holders will need to look at selection, players out of position, and not losing the ball at the breakdown if they hope to stay in this years tournament.
"It's good to put one performance out there but to back it up tonight, the Boks certainly came to play, it was pretty physical but we stuck to what we wanted to do and to come away with a win we're pretty happy," said McCaw afterwards.
Springbok captain John Smit said it would be again difficult to analyse the game after they were once affected by a sending off early in the match.
"We are looking forward to our first 80 minutes in the Tri Nations where we can judge ourselves on a 15-man effort. You can't afford to lose a man that early and give a team like the All Blacks a good start," he said.
The All Blacks now have a break, while the Springboks head to Brisbane to face the Wallabies.
Are the Springbok seniors getting on a bit, or is it simply selection issues and a lack of fire? For the All Blacks, do you think they'll continue in this form and go on to win the tournament, and who has impressed you most at this stage?
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