There were extenuating circumstances, including forward passes in the tries to Damian de Allende and Cameron Hanekom, neither identified by the television match official (TMO) – although the game was well and truly gone by the time of Hanekom’s 75th-minute try. Halfback Morne van den Berg went unpunished after a blatant professional foul on Cam Roigard when the TMO managed to find an earlier infringement. World Rugby needs to look at that. It took place in the 54th minute of the test and could have been crucial. Intent needs to be punished, even if an earlier offence made van den Berg’s tackle on Roigard redundant. He should have been red-carded, yellow-carded at worst.
Manie Libbok was lucky after his 64th-minute head contact with Jordie Barrett. Incredibly, the TMO said he couldn’t find a definitive angle. Weird – because I was watching one on screen. If that had been an All Black, cards would have appeared. Libbok knew he’d got off lightly.
Overall, however, across the four tests the Boks fully deserved their series win. No surprise. Before the tour, this column stated that, no matter what happened in South Africa, Rennie and co had to be cut some slack in probably the toughest All Blacks schedule in history.
The Boks also deserve praise for keeping their World Cup drive alive. You’d expect the flame of ambition to fade a little after back-to-back World Cup successes. Nope. Watch them sing their national anthem. The fires still burn bright; they are the firmest of favourites for a third consecutive World Cup next year.
They have several of the best players in the world: Malcolm Marx (world’s best hooker and world’s best tight-forward turnover-merchant), Eben Etzebeth (best lineout exponent), Ox Nche (best loosehead scrummager although Fletcher Newell handled him well in the fourth test); Jasper Wiese (best ball-carrying loose forward), Pieter Steph du Toit (best blindside flanker). They have perhaps the best back three in the world in Cheslin Kolbe, Kurt-Lee Arendse and Damian Willemse, although France’s Louis Bielle-Biarrey, Damian Penaud and Thomas Ramos may disagree.
New Zealand have only Ardie Savea and Jordie Barrett, in my view, in a World XV – the latter as the best midfielder in the world, although the Boks’ de Allende and Jesse Kriel may be the world’s best midfield combination. Will Jordan and Roigard are world class but would they make a World XV ahead of, respectively, the four wings mentioned above and French halfback Antoine Dupont?
However, that outstanding Boks line-up may be its own weakness. Rassie Erasmus has built depth but the replacements have the expertise and experience of the old guard. Erasmus will build depth further between now and the World Cup but not surprisingly tends to default to his tried and true, a year older by World Cup time.
This, right now, is Rennie’s time, when he really goes to work. The Boks are drawn to meet the All Blacks in the World Cup quarter-final – a one-off match where anything can happen, where surprise may be a key element. He will be planning for that.
The All Blacks have two Bledisloe Cup tests, a tour of Scotland, Wales and England in November, plus another Bledisloe next year and a full Rugby Championship, including home and away tests against the Boks. In that time, in my opinion, the All Blacks must firm up their scrum, find more direct, effective ways to attack, including more pick-and-go, to puncture defensive screens close in instead of flinging bodies one-out and two-out against the waiting green wall. They must improve their kick-to-retrieve game and their woeful high-kick receiving.
Their defence must match the Boks’, eradicating some of the soft tries scored against them. They need increased physicality at the breakdowns and improved mauling and maul defence. No one is suggesting abandoning their attacking instincts, just channelling them into counter-attacks in smarter, less predictable moments (which makes kick-receiving even more important).
Yes, it’s a big coaching job. It’s also a big prize.
Paul Lewis writes about rugby, cricket, league, football, yachting, golf, the Olympics and Commonwealth Games.