An 18-point blitz either side of half-time was all the impetus that the All Blacks needed to record a comprehensive 41-20 Tri-Nations win over the Springboks in Wellington.
New Zealand led 21-13 at half-time despite the Springboks running into an early 10-3 lead after a sensational individual try from fullback Werner Greeff in the sixth minute.
Greeff beat Mark Robinson, Christian Cullen and Doug Howlett en route to the tryline and André Pretorius's conversion put the visitors into a 7-3 lead after an Andrew Mehrtens penalty got the scoreboard ticking over in the second minute.
Pretorius soon added a penalty to stretch the Boks' lead to 10-3, and although Andrew Mehrtens cut the lead to four points, Greeff was on target with a drop-goal just a few minutes later to put the Boks in control at 13-6.
But All Black skipper Reuben Thorne rallied his troops and they hit back with a try of their own shortly before the end of the first quarter. Kiwi hooker Mark Hammett, who had a nightmarish performance against the Wallabies last week, finally found one of his jumpers -- Chris Jack -- at a line-out, and scrumhalf Justin Marshall made some ground before Richard McCaw carried the ball further.
A third Crusader, No.8 Scott Robertson, soon arrived on the scene to make a telling forage into enemy territory and although Marshall took the wrong option by turning the ball inside to Mark Robinson, the Kiwis quickly re-cycled the ball to the right for Doug Howlett to dive over.
Mehrtens swung in a wonderful conversion from far out to tie the scores 13-all, but that was where the Boks' scoring ended for some time as the All Blacks slowly started making and breaking first-time tackles.
Mark Hammett was the man to benefit from the Kiwis' renewed vigour as he streaked over from a clever line-out move with Robertson, although replays suggest that Hammett's throw did not go five metres and both his feet were in the field of play at the time of his throw.
Mehrtens missed the conversion, but he added a penalty on the stroke of half-time and a drop-goal soon afterwards to put his side ahead at 24-13.
Then Greeff, who could do no wrong up till then, mis-judged a chip-ahead from Kiwi second five-eighths Aaron Mauger from the re-start to Mehrtens's drop-goal, which allowed Mauger to have another hack at the ball. Caleb Ralph nailed Stefan Terblanché in the tackled and Tana Umaga, who had replaced the injured Mark Robinson, won the ball on the ground and presented it to Justin Marshall.
Marshall went right and the Boks defended bravely, but a change of direction saw Thorne crash over for the try. Mehrtens did the necessary and at 31-13 the All Blacks had ripped the heart out of the young Bok side.
To their credit Krige's side did manage to pull one try back -- Marius Joubert won the race to the goalline after Pretorius's attempted penalty kick to touch bounced loose -- but 31-20 soon became 36-20 after Justin Marshall powered his way over for his fifth career try against the South Africans.
Marshall's try came just after the self-same Joubert had been sin-binned in rather dubious circumstances after a high-tackle on Doug Howlett and a few swats at Tana Umaga, who came to Howlett's assistance.
Scott Robertson rubbed more salt into the Boks's already infected wound with a late try after yet another well-executed line-out move close to the Bok line.
In the end a 21-point winning margin -- as predicted by the Zurich Computer rankings -- seems massive. And, indeed it is.
The All Blacks will feel well-satisfied with their ninth straight Test triumph -- and bonus point -- that reinforces their position at the top of the Tri-Nation standings while Bok captain Corné Krige believes his team can take something out of the performance.
The Bok performance had shades of Nick Mallett's side's determination in 1998, but it also provided us with a trip down memory lane into Carel du Plessis' beleaguered side of 1997, which lost 55-35 to New Zealand at Eden Park. Hopefully the Boks will remember next week to keep their error-rate down as the world champion Wallabies lie in wait.
Man of the match: Springbok fullback Werner Greeff started the match like a house on fire and his captain Corné Krige did not stand back to anyone. For the All Blacks, opensider Richard McCaw was at his brilliant best -- ripping the ball away from hapless Bok attackers and supporting his team-mates on the run -- while flyhalf Andrew Mehrtens ran things well from the crucial flyhalf spot. But, in the end our vote goes to All Black No.8 Scott Robertson for his complete performance from the base of the Kiwi scrum. He broke numerous Bok tackles on attack and tackled like a man possessed and for good measure he also scored the All Blacks' fifth try. He completely out-played his opposite number Bob Skinstad.
Moment of the Match: At first we pencilled in Werner Greeff's try -- the Boks' first in New Zealand since Pieter Rossouw's try during their 13-3 triumph in Wellington in 1998 -- but once the complexion of the game changed so did our moment of the match. Our moment then? Robertson's try, which came shortly before the final whistle. It was fully-deserved by the Canterbury and Crusaders No.8 and just-reward for hard work a wonderful performance from him.
Villain of the Match: It may be a bit rough on him, but Marius Joubert wins our vote here for his sin-binning in the 55th minute. He cannot be blamed for the high-tackle, as he was going in the opposite direction to Doug Howlett, but his flurry of punches afterwards were unnecessary.
The Teams:
New Zealand: 1 David Hewett, 2 Mark Hammett, 3 Greg Somerville, 4 Chris Jack, 5 Simon Maling, 6 Richard McCaw, 7 Reuben Thorne (c), 8 Scott Robertson, 9 Justin Marshall, 10 Andrew Mehrtens, 11 Doug Howlett, 12 Aaron Mauger, 13 Mark Robinson, 14 Caleb Ralph, 15 Christian Cullen
Reserves: Sam Broomhall, Joe McDonnell, Tom Willis, Byron Kelleher, Jonah Lomu, Tana Umaga, Royce Willis
South Africa: 1 Willie Meyer, 2 James Dalton, 3 Lawrence Sephaka, 4 Jannes Labuschagne, 5 Victor Matfield, 6 Corne Krige (c), 7 Joe Van Niekerk, 8 Bobby Skinstad, 9 Bolla Conradie, 10 Andre Pretorius, 11 Dean Hall, 12 De Wet Barry, 13 Marius Joubert, 14 Stefan Terblanche, 15 Werner Greeff
Reserves: Neil De Kock, Adi Jacobs, Faan Rautenbach, A.J. Venter, Ollie Le Roux,
Unused: Hendro Scholtz, Breyton Paulse
Referee: Dickinson s.
Points Scorers:
New Zealand
Tries: Howlett D.C. 1, Hammett M.G. 1, Marshall J.W. 1, Robertson S.M. 1, Thorne R.D. 1
Conv: Mehrtens A.P. 2
Pen K.: Mehrtens A.P. 3
Drop G.: Mehrtens A.P. 1
South Africa
Tries: Greeff W.W. 1, Joubert M.C. 1
Conv: Pretorius A.S. 2
Pen K.: Pretorius A.S. 1
Drop G.: Greeff W.W. 1
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