The All Black Juggernaut Continues

Two in a row & there can be little doubt that the All Blacks have moved up a cog this year (and the Boks may have slipped one).  It was always going to be a big challenge to reproduce the performance from Eden Park and while they didn't reach those heights again it was still a significant performance.
 
But they were once again aided by Springbok indiscipline.  While the Rossouw sin binning appeared very harsh it was also a totally unnecessary act.  Why do the Boks commit such blatant acts at the start of games?  In the last year there has been Schalk Burger's eye gouging in the 2nd test vs the Lions & now Bakkies' head butt & Danie Rossouw's kick all within the first couple of minutes of the start of the game.  Discipline is definitely a problem & is earning them a reputation that is going to be hard to shake.
 
One of pleasing aspects of the tests has been the All Blacks have continued their willingness to counter attack (though to be fair they signalled this last year but couldn't execute it under the old rules). In Wellington they even succeeded from within 10m of their own line under pressure through some interplay between by Mils & Piri.
 
The All Black physicality was excellent again with them continuing to really compete at the break down.  Kieran Read has really gone to a new level this season with his all round game making a mockery of my previous comparisons to Reuben Thorne.  Kaino provides plenty of grunt as well. Saying that the All Blacks were lucky with the refereeing when McCaw was warned for 2 quick penalties in a row in the second half.  The second looked remarkably similar to the infringement for which Bakkies went to the bin the previous week.
 
Piri Weepu had a magnificent game with 3 line breaks in the first half, one of which produced the try for Mils (didn't he show some gas?).  Piri even topped it off with a successful long range penalty in conditions which Dan Carter struggled.
 
Speaking of the weather conditions the general ball handling from the All Blacks was impressive as they continued to play the game at a quick tempo.  What was not so impressive was the catching of the high ball though the wind seemed to be very difficult to judge.  The Boks latched on to this but it resulted in a limited game plan from them.  The irony was that it was de Villiers that coughed up a high ball that led to 3 points for the All Blacks.
 
Carter's poor goal kicking meant that despite dominating the first half the score was only 13-7 to the All Blacks.  Let's hope it was just a bad day at the office after his fine display at Eden Park.  Rene Ranger also had an interesting debut & looked a bit green but so have many fine All Blacks in their first start over the years.  Given the feeble yellow card for Rossouw, Ranger was lucky to stay on following his no arms tackle in the first half.
 
So were does this put the Boks (putting aside their whining about the referee with their commentators reaching Pom like levels)? They showed in the build up to their two tries that if they can maintain the ball & exert some pressure they can crack defenses.  The problem is that this display little intent to do this.
 
Their lineout was a lot stronger (why did the All Blacks compete less this week?) & after early All Black pressure at scrum time they seemed to get the better of that as well.  So they had the set piece platform but couldn't convert that in to periods of possession. Without The General their option taking is poor & Morne Steyn should be having nightmares after butchering a try with the score 21-10.  Surely Pienaar must play ahead of Januarie?
 
I've also been amazed at the poor one-on-one tackling of the Boks & resultant missed tackles during the two tests.  I'm not sure whether you can put this down to desire, age or fitness.  I think they miss Bismarck du Plessis' impact around the park as well.  It’s hard to work out what has happened to players like Fourie who were superb during the Super 14?  Also they simply refuse to use Habana as an attacking option & he sees little ball (like at the Stormers). 
 
One thing they were right about was the poor performance by the referee, Alain Rolland, who seems to be remarkably inconsistent with his interpretation of the breakdown.  An example being Conrad Smith's hands in the ruck that helped turn over the ball that ultimately led to Mils' try.  While this was a source of frustration, the referee did not decide the game & the Boks simply had to adjust & put more pressure on the break down themselves.  This inability to adapt leaves a lot of questions about their leadership.
 
Finally it would be remiss of me not to mention the impact of Israel Dagg.  The way he stood up Pierre Spies (a flat track bully if ever there was one on the rugby field) a la Serge Blanco at Concord Oval in 1987 & then swerved & stepped past the cover for his try was sensational.  He must be in the mix somewhere though given Mils' form maybe on the wing or at least the last 30 min of the match off the bench.
 
So a week off for the All Blacks & the Boks traipse over to Brisbane where they haven't won since 1971.