KEY POINTS:
England, as it turns out, ended up being far worthier opponents last month than anyone realised.
Utterly hopeless out wide, England were powerful enough up front to force the All Blacks to focus on their work at the breakdown before playing South Africa.
The All Blacks felt they would be cooked by the Boks unless they upped the physicality and intensity and looked the Boks in the eye when it came to the collision.
It was clear the New Zealand forwards spent the week being useful. That they were asked to show their character and lead from the front.
No one did more than Ali Williams in that regard, the big lock shaking off an ankle injury picked up against England to turn in one of his most energetic performances on the night he won his 50th cap.
He was commanding at kick receptions, put pressure on the Boks lineout, hit rucks with his usual venom and even managed to nudge a kick 60 metres that went out on the full by inches.
It was an inspirational performance - compelling evidence that the one-time All Black jester is now a genuine leader, even if he was keen to play down his contribution.
"The first few lineouts we nailed and the scrum went well so that was the essential stuff," he said.
"I enjoyed it. I am just a little cog in the big aspect of the whole team but that was a huge effort from everyone. Everyone got stuck in and kept to the game plan.
"It [the physical intensity] was definitely up there. There was a lot of heat on it from both teams, as both had that desire to win. I love those sorts of contests."
Williams' locking partner, Brad Thorn, appeared to love it just as much. The 33-year-old is the sort of player who would really have to be dead before he would stop trying.
The Springbok paring of Bakkies Botha and Victor Matfield is among the biggest and most physical in the world and there was Thorn smashing into them as if they were nothing more than half-decent club players.
That relentless physical intensity from Thorn was a huge factor in subduing the Boks and raising confidence levels within the All Blacks.
"He's a monster in there - he confronts physically and dominates in tackles and when he gets his hands on the ball, he just keeps going," said Williams of his Crusaders team-mate.
"It makes my job a lot easier. I can't speak highly enough about him, really. Some of us were quite nervous before the game and the best way to get rid of nerves is to confront it physically and hook into it."
Thorn clearly decided to confront his nerves early with a dangerous looking tackle on Smit that might yet land him in some trouble.
Boks manager Andy Marinos said the incident would have to be further reviewed before they could make a decision on whether to cite Thorn.
If the incident does end up in front of the citing commissioner, it's likely All Black coach Graham Henry will verbalise again his frustration at the off-the-ball treatment of Dan Carter.
The All Black first five-eighth was hit late off the ball a few times and Henry said that was hugely frustrating, suggesting it needed to be monitored more closely by the officials in Dunedin this week.
It's unlikely the Boks will lay off the man who did so much to steer his side around the park. Carter was again in supreme form, with backs coach Wayne Smith saying: "I thought he [Carter] had a big game and I thought Andy [Ellis] did well, too. It was pretty tough around the fringes and when we did get a little bit of ball in space, we used that wisely, too."
Smith's only frustration was the poor call made around the try that was not awarded to Jerome Kaino in the final quarter. He felt that was a classic example of where technology should have been used to ensure the right call was made.
That refusal to allow the try to stand gave the coaches an uncomfortable final 15 minutes and gave the Boks some hope that there wasn't so much between the teams.
South Africa captain John Smit vowed to pick his side up and come charging back in Dunedin.
"We came here very purposeful that it was time for a change in our fortunes. I thought we were good enough to get a point at least but perhaps if we work harder, we can win next week."
