By Lucky Vince Pienaar
The All Blacks did more than beat the Jaguares—they destroyed them.
Before this weekend, after the New Zealand team went down to the South American side, it looked as if the Rugby Championship might be a one-horse race, but the way the All Blacks bounced back has changed the look of the competition completely.
South Africa’s so-called ‘B’ team beat the Australians convincingly, but only after the experienced bench came on in the second half.
In fact, Australia would have taken the lead at the end of the first half if flyhalf Noah Lolesio hadn’t made a mess of an easy penalty kick.
The Wallabies fell apart in the second half and conceded three unstoppable forward tries, resulting in a dominant win for the Boks.
In reality, the ‘B’ team was not convincing at all. The terrible ball-handling was obvious from the kick-off and remained bad throughout the match. The conditions in Perth could hardly have been worse, but rugby is not always played in good conditions.
The weather in Eden Park, Auckland, was not much better, but the All Blacks didn’t struggle with the ball. They played the Argentinians off the park with the rain pelting down.
The All Blacks’ performance this weekend, after stumbling against the Jaguares in the first match, will have put a huge smile on coach Scott Robertson’s face—and a frown on the face of South African coach Rassie Erasmus.
The Springboks will have to learn to play better in bad conditions. How Erasmus is going to improve the handling by the Springboks in wet conditions will be interesting to see.
The conditions in two weeks at Emirates Park in Johannesburg will, barring an earthquake, be perfect, but Cape Town might just be very wet and very windy.
So, with two weeks to go, we have a talented but disjointed Springbok ‘B’ team beating an Australian side that is showing some promise.
The depth Erasmus and his team have been priding themselves on is all good and well, but the team that faced Australia might not do so well against the All Blacks side that destroyed the Jaguares.
One expects that Australia will have the worst Rugby Championship in their history despite coach Eddie Jones’s good work. The real contest will be the battle of two great Southern Hemisphere sides.
The Jaguares are streets ahead of the Australians, as we’ll no doubt find out when the two teams meet in La Plata, Argentina, next time out.
But the tastiest dish on the menu will be the mammoth clash of the giants when South Africa and New Zealand meet in two weeks’ time.
Pictured above: New Zealand during their victory over Argentina.
Source: All Blacks/X
