Seven up for rampant All Blacks

New Zealand put one hand on both the Tri-Nations and Bledisloe silverware on Saturday as they crushed Australia 49-28 in a classic at Etihad Stadium.

It was simply an outstanding contest between two attack-minded sides.  Five tries in the first-half and not a single scrum reset until the 75th minute as rugby was played how it always should be.

The fine result now puts the All Blacks on fifteen tournament points in 2010, with nearest rivals Australia and the pointless Springboks swiftly looking a distant second and third in the south.

But what about this New Zealand outfit?  Call it over the top to be talking like this so soon but they have the confident and assured air of a world champion team in the making.  Calmness, ruthlessness and attacking brilliance were on show as players like Richie McCaw and Daniel Carter stood up to the plate.  They were not alone.

Yes the Wallabies were reduced to fourteen just after the break when Drew Mitchell was shown his second yellow, but in truth the game was up.

The contest itself began at quite a pace and in the end continued in that fashion.  First it was Matt Giteau -- in for the banned Quade Cooper -- who ran from his own 22 in a breathtaking play that led to New Zealand coming offside and the Brumby slotting over the opening three.

However, it only took Carter just three minutes to level matters with a penalty of his own before déjà vu, calamity, whatever you want to call it, hit the Melbourne surface.

Only a minute after DC had knocked over those points, he became the villain when his attempted clearance was too slow in leaving his boot and Mitchell capitalised for the opening try wide out, proving once again he should always remain in this Wallaby squad.

That was the first part of a rather comical sketch though as Carter promptly became a hero by charging down Berrick Barnes' almost identical clearance to score.  The visiting number ten did knock over the extra two points -- unlike Giteau -- to make it 10-8 to the blacks.

Then came a moment of brilliance from wing Cory Jane following turnover ball inside away territory.  The impressive Brad Thorn was a key ingredient in the score by drawing two gold tacklers for the overlapping Keven Mealamu to hand on to Ma'a Nonu, who offloaded to centre partner Conrad Smith before Jane's chip -- despite being held by Rocky Elsom -- dropped perfectly for the supporting Mils Muliaina to grab his first of two scores.

Giteau did pull the scores back to 15-11 and when prop Owen Franks was yellow-carded for a no-arm tackle on Richard Brown, one sensed it could a route back for the Wallabies.

Unfortunately for Australia that proved not to be the case as New Zealand's fourteen men produced another seven points, with turnover ball again the catalyst.  McCaw it was who finished this time, superbly I might add down the left wing after one of those moves off of Graham Henry's midweek training paper.  It worked a treat mind on 27 minutes.

Penalties were traded by Giteau and Carter to move the scoreline up to 22-14 in favour of the All Blacks, but then came the bonus-point try before the interval.  The Cantabrian's penalty-push deep into the corner led to a slick lineout set-move that involved the mobile Thorn and Franks before a switch to the blindside saw Jane finish well in the corner.

The turnaround was a chance for Robbie Deans to rally his troops who were 32-14 down.  However, the comeback that the coach was looking for was not forthcoming as Mitchell's second yellow -- for slapping down the ball in touch -- put the game beyond doubt.

Adam Ashley-Cooper did pull the scores back to 39-21 after his opposite number Muliaina had gone over to complete his rather simple brace, but then Joe Rokocoko, Rocky Elsom and Corey Flynn rounded off New Zealand's eighth-straight win over the Wallabies.

Man-of-the-match:  So many stood out but we have gone for Richie McCaw, who provided yet again for the All Blacks.  Mentions too for Brad Thorn, Cory Jane and Mils Muliaina.

Moment-of-the-match:  No question about this one as Cory Jane's chip over the top for Mils Muliaina was breathtaking.  Despite being semi-tackled by Rocky Elsom, the 'Canes man found his full-back for an excellent score that hurt the Wallabies deeply.

Villain-of-the-match:  Maybe slightly harsh but the official who pinged Drew Mitchell for an alleged no-arm tackle.  We still haven't seen when and where it happened as Australia were attacking at the time.  Explain, anyone?

The scorers:

For Australia:
Tries:  Mitchell, Ashley-Cooper, Elsom
Con:  Giteau 2
Pen:  Giteau 3

For New Zealand:
Tries:  Carter, Muliaina 2, McCaw, Jane, Rokocoko, Flynn
Con:  Carter 4
Pen:  Carter 2

Australia:  15 Adam Ashley Cooper, 14 James O'Connor, 13 Rob Horne, 12 Berrick Barnes, 11 Drew Mitchell, 10 Matt Giteau, 9 Will Genia, 8 Richard Brown, 7 David Pocock, 6 Rocky Elsom (c), 5 Nathan Sharpe, 4 Dean Mumm, 3 Salesi Ma'afu, 2 Stephen Moore, 1 Benn Robinson.
Replacements:  16 Saia Faingaa, 17 James Slipper, 18 Rob Simmons, 19 Matt Hodgson, 20 Luke Burgess, 21 Anthony Faingaa, 22 Kurtley Beale.

New Zealand:  15 Mils Muliaina, 14 Cory Jane, 13 Conrad Smith, 12 Ma'a Nonu, 11 Joe Rokocoko, 10 Dan Carter, 9 Jimmy Cowan, 8 Kieran Read, 7 Richie McCaw, 6 Jerome Kaino, 5 Tom Donnelly, 4 Brad Thorn, 3 Owen Franks, 2 Keven Mealamu, 1 Tony Woodcock.
Replacements:  16 Corey Flynn, 17 Ben Franks, 18 Sam Whitelock, 19 Victor Vito, 20 Piri Weepu, 21 Aaron Cruden, 22 Israel Dagg.

Referee:  Craig Joubert (South Africa)
Assistant referees:  Jonathan Kaplan (South Africa), Cobus Wessels (South Africa)
Television match official:  George Ayoub (Australia)

Tonga undone by penalty try

Japan scored a last-gasp penalty try to record a 26-23 victory over Tonga in the final round of Pacific Nations Cup in Apia on Sunday.

Having lost 24-23 to Samoa in the opening round and 41-38 to Fiji last week, the defeat was heartbreak for Tonga as they could only record their third losing bonus-point of the tournament.

Japan did not gain the try-scoring bonus point they required to stand any chance of winning the PNC title for the first time, however, meaning the winner would come from the final match of the tournament between Fiji and Samoa, with the latter sealing the deal.

Despite not being in contention for the title themselves at the beginning of the match, Tonga scored the first points after just three minutes.

Wing William Helu, playing in just his second match for Tonga, pounced on a loose ball after Japan's Alisi Tupuailai had knocked on, before showing a great turn of pace to dummy his way to the try line.

Kurt Morath added the conversion and a further penalty seven minutes later to give Tonga a 10-0 lead at Apia Park and Japan suffered a further setback when the influential Ryan Nicholas had to be stretchered off.

Fly-half James Arlidge scored two penalties for the Asian Five Nations champions before half time, however, to cut the deficit to four points and give John Kirwan's side some momentum for the second half.

As they had in the first half, however, Tonga scored within the opening three minutes of the restart with Morath making the scores 13-6 with his second penalty of the match, but Arlidge immediately hit back with his third.

Japan's prop Kensuke Hatakeyama, playing in his 14th test, scored their first try of the match in the 51st minute after several phases of play in the Tongan 22, which Arlidge converted to give Japan the lead for the first time.

Alipate Fatafehi scored a fine individual try in the 67th minute for Tonga to regain the lead after chasing his own kick to score under the posts and give Morath an easy conversion.

Arlidge and Morath exchanged further penalties in the last 10 minutes and at 23-16 it looked as though Tonga would record their first PNC 2010 victory but after losing captain Aleki Lutui to the sin-bin Japan's scrum took advantage and were finally awarded a penalty try which Arlidge converted to secure the win.

Japan captain Takashi Kikutani said: ''I had trust in my players and despite when we were down during the game, I kept on challenging the boys to give their best.  We are happy about the win but we need to improve in a few areas as we prepare for other matches we play this year and next.''

The scorers:

For Japan:
Tries:  Hatakeyama, Penalty Try
Cons:  Arlidge 2
Pens:  Arlidge 4

For Tonga:
Tries:  Helu, Fatafehi
Cons:  Morath 2
Pens:  Morath 3

The teams:

Japan:  15 Kaoru Matsushita, 14 Kosuke Endo, 13 Alisi Tupuailei, 12 Ryan Nicholas, 11 Hirotoki Onozawa, 10 James Arlidge, 9 Fumiaki Tanaka, 8 Ryu Holani, 7 Touetsu Taufa, 6 Takashi Kikutani (c), 5 Toshizumi Kitagawa, 4 Hitoshi Ono, 3 Kensuke Hatakeyama, 2 Shota Horie, 1 Hisateru Hirashima.
Replacements:  16 Hiroki Yuhara, 17 Naoki Kawamata, 18 Luke Thompson, 19 Michael Leitch, 20 Koji Wada, 21 Shaun Webb, 22 Ryo Kanazawa.

Tonga:  15 Vungakoto Lilo, 14 William Helu, 13 Alipate Fatafehi, 12 Andrew Mailei, 11 Alaska Taufa, 10 Kurt Morath, 9 Mahe Fangupo, 8 Sione Kalamafoni (c), 7 Haani Halaeua, 6 Kelepi Halafihi, 5 Steve Mafi, 4 Alepini Olosoni, 3 Makoni Finau, 2 Sione Vaiomounga, 1 Toma Toke.
Replacements:  16 Aleki Lutui, 17 Po'alo'i Taula, 18 Aloisio Mailangi, 19 Paula Kata, 20 Samisoni Fisilau, 21 Manu Ahota'e'iloa, 22 Saia Fekitoa.

Referee:  Steve Walsh New Zealand
Assistant Referees:  Tui Komiti, Kelekolio Petelo (both Samoa)

Wallabies rampant in Brisbane

The Tri-Nations trophy is set to change hands in 2010 after the Springboks conceded their third straight defeat, going down 30-13 to Australia at Suncorp Stadium on Saturday.

With a team packed with Brisbane-based players from the Reds, the national side used similar tactics to the Super 14 franchise to fracture the South African defence by moving the ball around at pace.

The sides scored two tries a piece, but the Wallabies domination of the breakdown forced the men in green and gold to bleed penalties.

As the scoreline suggests, the Wallabies were in charge from the start and two yellow cards didn't help the South African cause.  Once again there will be cries from the Republic in protest to some inconsistent refereeing but few will dispute that Australia were the superior team on the day.

The defending champions will now head from their three-match tour without a single tournament point, making a title defence near-impossible.

Its was déjà vu all over again for the Boks as they were down to fourteen men in the opening minutes for the third time in as many weeks.  Jaque Fourie was the guilty party this week -- for tip tackle -- but unlike in New Zealand the visitors were able to weather the storm and didn't concede points before the centre's return.

But even with a full quota on the field, the Springboks struggled to contain their free-running hosts.  A few too many missed tackles had Australia rushing forward and the pressure resulted in a 12-3 lead after 30 minutes with Matt Giteau faultless from the kicking tee.

As expected, David Pocock made a real nuisance of himself at the rucks and on a couple of occasions chucked a spanner in the opposition works when they looked set to strike back.

A fudged Springbok line-out on the stroke on half time allowed the Wallabies to open a healthy gap as Drew Mitchell juggled his way over the line, sending the teams to the changing rooms with the hosts up 17-3.

Australia pressed home their advantage after the break as Giteau and James O'Connor added a penalty each to stretch the lead to 23-3.

The second of those penalties saw BJ Both sent to the bin for killing the Wallabies' ball in an attacking position.  Quade Cooper was also given his marching orders for a lifting tackle and the visitors used their extra man to build some momentum.

A quick-tap penalty from Ruan Pienaar opened the way for Fourie to muscle his way over from short range but the horse had already bolted.

South Africa sparked hopes of a late comeback when Gurthro Steenkamp charged over after a line-out inside the last ten minutes.

But he hosts would have the last laugh however as Will Genia dived over after being set up by a rolling maul in the dying minutes, capping a super performance by the Wallabies and sending the world champions home to think again.

Man of the match:  Tough one to call with both Rocky Elsom and David Pocock putting in huge performances.  We'll give it to the latter for his tireless work at the breakdown.

Moment of the match:  Australia had been drifting further and further ahead but Drew Mitchell's try essentially ended the game as a contest.  It summed up the day:  The Springboks failed to do the basics right and were caught out by the pace of the Aussie attack.

Villain of the match:  Fourie and Cooper were both guilty of lifting the man in the tackle, but neither incident looked nasty enough to merit the ''villain'' tag.

The scorers

For Australia:
Tries:  Mitchell, Genia
Con:  O'Connor
Pens:  Giteau 5, O'Connor

For South Africa:
Tries:  Fourie, Steenkamp
Pen:  Steyn

Yellow cards:  Fourie (SA -- 3rd min -- dangerous tackle);  Botha (SA -- 46th min -- cynical offside);  Cooper (Aus -- 54th min -- dangerous tackle)

Australia:  15 Adam Ashley-Cooper, 14 James O'Connor, 13 Rob Horne, 12 Matt Giteau, 11 Drew Mitchell, 10 Quade Cooper, 9 Will Genia, 8 Richard Brown, 7 David Pocock, 6 Rocky Elsom (c), 5 Nathan Sharpe, 4 Dean Mumm, 3 Salesi Ma'afu, 2 Saia Fainga'a, 1 Benn Robinson.
Replacements:  16 Stephen Moore, 17 James Slipper, 18 Rob Simmons, 19 Ben McCalman, 20 Luke Burgess, 21 Berrick Barnes, 22 Kurtley Beale.

South Africa:  15 Zane Kirchner, 14 Gio Aplon, 13 Jaque Fourie, 12 Wynand Oliver, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Morne Steyn, 9 Ruan Pienaar, 8 Pierre Spies, 7 Ryan Kankowski, 6 Schalk Burger, 5 Victor Matfield, 4 Danie Rossouw, 3 BJ Botha, 2 John Smit (c), 1 Gurthro Steenkamp.
Replacements:  16 Chiliboy Ralepelle, 17 CJ van der Linde, 18 Flip van der Merwe, 19 Dewald Potgieter, 20 Francois Hougaard, 21 Butch James, 22 Juan de Jongh.

Venue:  Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane
Referee:  George Clancy (Ireland)
Assistant referees:  Keith Brown (New Zealand), Vinny Munro (New Zealand)
Television match official:  Matt Goddard (Australia)
Assessor:  Steve Hilditch

Flawless All Blacks do it again

New Zealand repeated their heroics of last week's Tri-Nations opener with another polished performance to beat South Africa 31-17 at Westpac Stadium in Wellington on Saturday.

It was a bad case of deja vu for the Boks as once again the All Blacks took advantage of a yellow card shown early on -- this time to banned Bakkies Botha's replacement Danie Rossouw -- that resulted in ten points in ten minutes.

From then on in it was always going to be a mountain to climb for the visitors.  And while they showed a lot of character to claw their way back and narrow the lead to 13-7 at half-time, the home side were just far too clinical after the break to claim successive bonus point wins over the world champions and ensure their two home fixtures yielded the maximum ten points.

Truth be told, the hosts should have buried South Africa considering the defending champions' inconsistent defensive efforts, their inability to adapt to Alain Rolland's relaxed and sometimes negligent style of officiating, and their failure to impose themselves on attack.

Indeed, Irish eyes weren't smiling on the Springboks on a wintry night in the New Zealand capital and at times, it certainly looked like John Smit's men were up against sixteen men.

The yellow card for foul play aside, there were key instances in the game that either went unnoticed or unpunished that will leave fans of the oval ball fuming back in the Republic.

South Africa now limp across the Tasman to Australia pointless and seemingly bereft of ideas after another mauling by a highly-motivated All Blacks side whose superior inventiveness, precision and individual class was a joy to watch.

The Springbok attack was unimaginative, and were often smashed back by the hungrier All Blacks who read the South Africans' unimaginative play like a book.  Needless to say, a lot of work needs to be done before next weekend's clash with the Wallabies -- their discipline and attitude no doubt topping the list.

And the Boks can certainly count themselves lucky that Dan Carter had a bad day with the boot, after the All Blacks pivot missed five shots at goal to lend the scoreline an unreflective look.

Rossouw, making his 50th Test appearance in place of the suspended Botha, was earlier the villain of the peace after a skirmish with Richie McCaw saw him sent to the sin bin just four minutes in.  Looking back on the replay, a fired up Rossouw dished out a tap kick to the thigh of McCaw that, in all seriousness, wouldn't have hurt his grandmother.

And the hosts capitalised clinically, racing into a 10-0 lead with their opponents a man down.

Ma'a Nonu opened the scoring, powering over a ruck of bodies on seven minutes and just managing to ground the ball.  Carter, who had missed an earlier penalty, was again off target with the conversion.

Smit gave his troops a stern talking to before the restart, however his words had little effect as just five minutes later the home side struck again.

A fine break from Piri Weepu sliced open the Springboks' static defence and full-back Mills Muliaina -- who showed impressive pace -- raced away down the right wing to score clinically in the corner.  Carter continued his 100 per cent failure record, however his latest effort was the toughest yet under a swirling wind at the Westpac Stadium.

Rossouw returned to the field minutes later, however the wave of attacks from the men in black refused to relent and Carter landed his first effort in four attempts on the half hour.

Despite spending the majority of the first half on the back foot, South Africa grabbed a lifeline three minutes before the break when Rossouw crashed over and Morne Steyn added the extras.

Any hopes of a comeback were soon put to bed though as Rene Ranger marked his first Test start with a try six minutes after the break.  The try followed an incident where Ranger was let off for a shoulder charge on Zane Kirchner in plain sight of the referee and his assistant Alan Lewis.  If he's cited, it will affirm the fact that the Wellington officials made a costly gaffe in failing to show him yellow.

Carter, who missed the subsequent conversion, was then taken off kicking duties as Weepu tried his luck.  The move paid dividends on 51 minutes when the robust scrum-half expertly slotted over a 40-metre effort to put the All Blacks 21-10 to the good.

A bonus-point win was sealed 14 minutes later, replacement Israel Dagg producing two sizzling sidesteps past Pierre Spies, Schalk Burger and Kirchner before touching down.

Burger barged his way over for a late consolation, however the All Blacks were full value for their second successive bonus-point win and are now in pole position to regain the title.

Man of the match:  Once again, all the All Blacks played well.  Kieran Read led another impressive forward effort, while Dan Carter was able to probe with his boot or let the ball out to the outside backs who were a constant threat.  Acting as the link, and an ideal choice under the circumstances, was scrum-half Piri Weepu.  He thrived in the conditions, feeding the ball consistently while making breaks efficiently to ensure the advantage line was continually broken.

Moment of the match:  There were a few, but Israel Dagg's superb individual try to seal the deal was the icing at the Cake Tin.

Villain of the match:  Last week it was bad boy Baakie's Botha who crippled his team in the first half with a needless sin binning and this week his replacement Danie Rossouw followed suit.

The scorers:

For New Zealand:
Tries:  Nonu, Muliana, Ranger, Dagg
Con:  Carter
Pens:  Carter 2, Weepu

For South Africa:
Tries:  Rossouw, Burger
Cons:  Steyn 2
Pen:  Steyn

Yellow card:  Rossouw, 3 min (South Africa, foul play)

New Zealand:  15 Mils Muliaina, 14 Cory Jane, 13 Conrad Smith, 12 Ma'a Nonu, 11 Rene Ranger, 10 Daniel Carter, 9 Piri Weepu, 8 Kieran Read, 7 Richie McCaw (c), 6 Jerome Kaino, 5 Tom Donnelly, 4 Brad Thorn, 3 Owen Franks, 2 Keven Mealamu, 1 Tony Woodcock.
Replacements:  16 Corey Flynn, 17 Ben Franks, 18 Sam Whitelock, 19 Liam Messam, 20 Jimmy Cowan, 21 Aaron Cruden, 22 Israel Dagg.

South Africa:  15 Zane Kirchner, 14 Jean de Villiers, 13 Jaque Fourie, 12 Wynand Oliver, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Morné Steyn, 9 Ricky Januarie, 8 Pierre Spies, 7 Francois Louw, 6 Schalk Burger, 5 Victor Matfield, 4 Danie Rossouw, 3 CJ van der Linde, 2 John Smit (c), 1 Gurthrö Steenkamp.
Replacements:  16 Chiliboy Ralepelle, 17 BJ Botha, 18 Andries Bekker, 19 Ryan Kankowski, 20 Ruan Pienaar, 21 Butch James, 22 Gio Aplon.

Referee:  Alain Rolland (Ireland)

Samoa pip Tonga in Apia

Samoa fought off a spirited Tongan challenge to record a 24-23 victory in the second game of the 2010 Pacific Nations Cup in Apia on Sunday.

Kurt Morath kicked 13 points for the visitors but tries from Junior Poluleuigaga, a penalty and Sevens star Mikaele Pesamino secured the victory for the hosts in the sweltering heat.

Tonga have never beaten Samoa in the PNC, but with a number of new players and coach, former All Black Isitolo Maka, the Ikale Tahi came the closest yet in their first match in this year's tournament.

Kurt Morath put the visitors ahead early in the first half before Samoa's full back Paul Williams levelled the scores at 3-3, but the son of All Blacks' Bryan Williams missed two further penalties before Morath restored Tonga's three-point advantage with his second penalty.

The Samoan forwards, who were dominant throughout the match, laid the platform for scrum half Junior Poluleuigaga to scamper over the line, however, with Sevens star Lolo Lui converting to give the hosts a 10-6 lead at half time.

After the restart Morath narrowed the scores to 10-9 with his third penalty after 51 minutes but five minutes later the Tongan defence were penalised as the Samoan forwards once again proved their superiority in the scrum and were awarded a penalty try which Lui converted.

In the 65th minute Tonga clawed their way back into the match again, however, as a pass from Lui in attack saw Tongan full back Vungakato Lilo intercept and race 80 metres to cross under the posts despite the best efforts of Mikaele Pesamino.

The IRB Sevens Player of the Year Pesamino gave the crowd what they had been waiting for with 10 minutes to go, however, as he all but secured victory.

After receiving the ball from Sevens teammate Uale Mai, he crossed in the corner and Lui added the difficult conversion, which would prove to be crucial, and give the hosts some breathing space at 24-16.

Tonga were not done yet though and scored an impressive try as their backs decided to run from deep with wing Alaska Taufa the beneficiary of some fine passing to score.  Morath added the conversion to take his match tally to 13 and give Tonga some momentum heading into the next round of matches, but the Samoans held on to win their opening match 24-23.

Samoa play Japan next week, who lost to Fiji in the opening match 22-8 in Lautoka on Saturday, whilst Tonga meet Fiji.

Samoa captain Mahonri Scwalger said: ''The team has just come together and we needed some time to get going.  We knew Tonga would be strong but we targeted their line out and scrum and the heat played a role in the match as well.''

Tonga captain Aleki Lutui said: ''There are a lot of young players in the team and it will take some time to get going.  There is a lot of work needed as we have to get the basics right and get our combinations correct before the next match.  We scored some opportunist tries, which was good but we need to work on getting more into the game.''

The scorers:

For Samoa:
Tries:  Poluleuligaga, Pesamino, Penalty Try
Cons:  Lui 3
Pen:  Williams

For Tonga:
Tries:  Taufa, Lilo
Cons:  Morath 2
Pens:  Morath 3

The teams:

Samoa:  15 Paul Williams, 14 Mikaele Pesamino, 13 George Pisi, 12 Jamie Helleur, 11 David Lemi, 10 Lolo Lui, 9 Junior Poluleuligaga, 8 George Stowers, 7 Falemiga Selesele, 6 Iosefa Tekori, 5 Kane Thompson, 4 Filipo Lavea Levi, 3 Sakaria Taulafo, 2 Mahonri Schwalger, 1 Anthony Perenise.
Replacements: 16 Andrew Williams, 17 James Afoa, 18 Manaia Salave'a, 19 Alafoti Faosiliva, 20 Uale Mai, 21 Fautua Otto, 22 Uarotafou Setu.

Tonga:  15 Vungakoto Lilo, 14 Alaska Taufa, 13 Saia Fekitoa, 12 Andrew Ma'ilei, 11 Manu Ahotaeiloa, 10 Kurt Morath, 9 Daniel Morath, 8 tbc, 7 Paula Kata, 6 Kelepi Halafihi, 5 Alepini Olosoni, 4 Akameta Feao, 3 Pa'alo'i Taula, 2 Aleki Lutui (c), 1 Toma Toke.
Replacements:  16 Sione Vaiomounga, 17 Sione Fukofuka, 18 Sitiveni Mafi, 19 Atunaisa Sikalu, 20 Samisoni Fisilau, 21 Fangatapu Apikotoa, 22 Alipate Fatafehi.

Referee:  Peter Fitzgibbon (Ireland)

All Blacks dominate Tri-Nations opener

New Zealand retained their world number one ranking thanks to a commanding 32-12 win over South Africa at Eden Park on Saturday.

It doesn't get better than this.  The world's two best rugby teams didn't disappoint as they delivered the top-class encounter we had all expected.

However, the defending Tri-Nations champions could not match their hosts' attacking prowess as New Zealand romped home as four-tries-to-none winners.

A dominant first half from the All Blacks -- helped by a yellow card for Bakkies Botha -- saw the hosts lead 20-3 at half time.  The second half went much the same way as the home side out-muscled and out-thought the world champions.

Lethal on the counter attack, and near-faultless in defence, Richie McCaw's men thoroughly deserved their victory.

Many had predicted that the Springboks would rule the set piece but the All Blacks scrum will feel they won the day and their jumpers competed efficiently at the line-outs.

A couple of technical infringements from the All Blacks gave the visitors an early advantage as Morne Steyn slotted an easy penalty.

The lead was short-lived however as referee Alan Lewis sent Botha to the sin-bin for a professional foul when the hosts were in full attack.  Dan Carter did the job from the kicking-tee to make it all square at 3-all after fifteen minutes.

New Zealand soon pressed home their numerical advantage with Mils Muliaina launching a stunning counter-attack from deep inside his own territory to slice through the South African defence.  McCaw was up in support to supply the link to Conrad Smith, who finished in the corner.

Carter's conversion gave the men in black a 10-3 lead to end the first quarter with the momentum firmly with the home side.

Botha's return didn't prevent the Bok scrum from buckling under pressure, allowing Carter to extend the lead to ten points with his second penalty.

It was one-way traffic for the rest of the half and when Jean de Villiers went looking for an intercept rather than defend his wing, the All Blacks were allowed to strike again.  Ma'a Nonu bust through two tacklers to barge over from short range and as Carter added the extras, the writing was on the wall for the Springboks.

Seventeen points down at the break, the visitors needed to come up with something special in the second period and got off to a solid start as Steyn added two penalties soon after the restart, narrowing the gap to eleven points.

But the All Blacks crossed the whitewash for the third time with their first real attack of the half when Kieran Read made an unstoppable run to hit Piri Weepu's pop pass at pace and charge over.

The Springboks replied almost immediately with Steyn's fourth penalty but at 27-12 going into the last quarter, the result seemed beyond doubt.

Read took a quick penalty to allow Tony Woodcock to muscle his way over in the final minute to rub salt into South African wounds and secure the bonus point.

Man of the match:  A couple of names stand out.  Tom Donnelly and Ma'a Nonu trashed any doubts over their match readiness, Richie McCaw and Kieran Read ruled the battle of the loose forwards, but we'll go with Mils Muliaina, whose attacking vision is still as good as ever after all these years.

Moment of the match:  It looked pretty even in the early stages, but from the moment Muliaina set off on that run to set up Conrad Smith's try, all the momentum was with New Zealand.

Villain of the match:  Not for the first time, Bakkies Botha looks set for an appointment at a disciplinary hearing.  Within a few minutes of kick-off he was using his head -- but not for thinking.

The scorers

For New Zealand:
Tries:  Smith, Nonu, Read, Woodcock
Cons:  Carter 3
Pens:  Carter 2

For South Africa:
Pens:  Steyn 3

Yellow card:  Botha (SA, 13th min, professional foul)

New Zealand:  15 Mils Muliaina, 14 Cory Jane, 13 Conrad Smith, 12 Ma'a Nonu, 11 Joe Rokocoko, 10 Dan Carter, 9 Jimmy Cowan, 8 Kieran Read, 7 Richie McCaw (c), 6 Jerome Kaino, 5 Tom Donnelly, 4 Brad Thorn, 3 Owen Franks, 2 Keven Mealamu, 1 Tony Woodcock.
Replacements:16 Corey Flynn, 17 Ben Franks, 18 Samuel Whitelock, 19 Liam Messam, 20 Piri Weepu, 21 Aaron Cruden, 22 Richard Kahui.

South Africa:15 Zane Kirchner, 14 Jean de Villiers, 13 Jaque Fourie, 12 Wynand Olivier, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Morne Steyn, 9 Ricky Januarie, 8 Pierre Spies, 7 Francois Louw, 6 Schalk Burger, 5 Victor Matfield, 4 Bakkies Botha, 3 Jannie du Plessis, 2 John Smit (c), 1 Gurthro Steenkamp.
Replacements:16 Chiliboy Ralepelle, 17 BJ Botha, 18 Andries Bekker, 19 Danie Rossouw, 20 Ruan Pienaar, 21 Butch James, 22 Gio Aplon.

Venue:  Eden Park, Auckland
Referee:  Alan Lewis (Ireland)
Assistant referees:  Alain Rolland (Ireland), Stuart Dickinson (Australia)