\u2018Absolutely terrifying\u2019<\/p>\n
Dustin Wetdewich, Nova News<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat looked comfortable at 33-19 with nine minutes remaining became absolutely terrifying as the All Blacks scored seven points and threw everything at a Springbok[s] side desperately trying to close out a match that swung from clinical dominance to nail-biting desperation.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen the final whistle blew, relief washed over the home crowd. The Springboks had delivered the response Rassie Erasmus demanded after Ellis Park\u2019s horror show, playing with intensity, accuracy and the kind of clinical edge that was completely absent six days earlier.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut they made it harder than it needed to be and the All Blacks\u2019 refusal to surrender nearly produced another famous comeback.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2018Far from perfect\u2019<\/p>\n
Craig Ray, Daily Maverick<\/p>\n
\u201cA ferocious first-half onslaught by the Springboks was enough to withstand a late rally by the All Blacks in a pulsating encounter that underlined the intensity of the old rivalry in 80 riveting minutes.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Boks, stunned by a 33-16 loss in the first test at Ellis Park, ripped into the New Zealanders from the outset and laid down a marker.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere would be no soft moments on this day as they deservedly took the spoils to inflict a first defeat on new All Black[s] coach Dave Rennie in his ninth outing.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was far from perfect, but the intensity was higher and in the first half, they wasted far fewer chances than a week earlier.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2018The Boks are back\u2019<\/p>\n
Gerard Meagher, the Guardian<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Boks are back. Level at one apiece in the series after a return to what they do best. Blending power and directness, blood and thunder, to edge far enough ahead of New Zealand and withstand a gutsy comeback from the All Blacks. Throw in some brazen mischief from Rassie Erasmus, who swapped his entire front row just an hour before kickoff, and this was much closer to a trademark Springboks performance, after they were unrecognisable a week ago.<\/p>\n
\u201cSouth Africa were far from flawless but constantly ferocious. It was not a knockout blow \u2013 not least given how the All Blacks finished the match \u2013 but it was some counterpunch after last week\u2019s humbling. The third test is scheduled for Johannesburg but they may consider relocating to Manila.\u201d<\/p>\n
The All Blacks sing the national anthem ahead of the second test against the Springboks. Photo \/ Photosport<\/p>\n
\u2018Clinical execution\u2019<\/p>\n
Clinton Van Der Berg, SA Rugby Magazine<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a flex of coaching muscle, timing a personnel switch to maximise pressure on a fraying New Zealand pack. Depending on where you sit, Erasmus\u2019 switch was either shrewd game management or something closer to cynical, but nobody can argue it did not work.<\/p>\n
\u201cCrucially, South Africa converted every 22m entry into points in the first half, a marked improvement on last week\u2019s wastefulness at Ellis Park, where clinical finishing deserted them at the crucial moments. This time, power was blended with aggression at the collision and clinical execution followed.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2018Wasteful\u2019<\/p>\n
Jared Wright, Planet Rugby<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter being incredibly ruthless in attack in Johannesburg, Dave Rennie\u2019s men were far more wasteful in Cape Town, averaging 2.8 points per entry into South Africa\u2019s 22. Still, it was mightily impressive how the men in black were able to tear the Boks\u2019 defence to shreds when it mattered.<\/p>\n
\u201cNew Zealand clearly targeted Kriel in the first half and got huge benefit from it, with Jordan skinning both Bok[s] centres before sending Roigard over. McKenzie and Carter\u2019s scores were equally breathtaking but the All Blacks\u2019 biggest issues wasn\u2019t the attack misfiring from far out, but in close.<\/p>\n
\u201cFar too often, they also overplayed their hand, forced the attack and conceded a penalty, which would have all been avoidable if they kicked instead.<\/p>\n
\u201cFurthermore, it\u2019s clear as day that when the Springboks have their best front row on the park, the All Blacks simply don\u2019t have an answer. Rennie may have had a word with World Rugby about South Africa\u2019s scrum tactics but once Nche and Marx were injected into the game, [referee] Angus Gardner\u2019s arm was raised in South Africa\u2019s favour time and time again.\u201d<\/p>\n
All Blacks fullback Damian McKenzie scores against South Africa in Cape Town Photo \/ SmartFrame<\/p>\n
\u2018Little separating the teams\u2019<\/p>\n
Jacques van der Westhuyzen, The Citizen<\/p>\n
\u201cThough the Boks were outscored four tries to three, Cheslin Kolbe\u2019s excellent kicking from the tee ensured the home team got across the line.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Boks were more clinical than last week in Jo\u2019burg, where they scored just one try to the five by the visitors.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere was little separating the teams in the forward exchanges, with no one really getting the better of the other in the set pieces. Both teams also played well with their backs.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u2018Absolutely terrifying\u2019 Dustin Wetdewich, Nova News \u201cWhat looked comfortable at 33-19 with nine minutes remaining became absolutely terrifying…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":401249,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[52],"tags":[63,16192,6027,30282,11437,2795,57338,2650,12700,139923,191199,1044,131,23340,191200,68070,19064],"class_list":["post-401248","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-south-africa","tag-africa","tag-all","tag-as","tag-blacks","tag-cape","tag-daily","tag-daniel","tag-in","tag-media","tag-reacts","tag-schofield","tag-south","tag-south-africa","tag-springboks","tag-telegraph","tag-town","tag-win"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@africa\/117181679096780518","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/401248","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=401248"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/401248\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/401249"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=401248"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=401248"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=401248"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}