Richard Loe: Committed All Blacks score in a heart-stopper

It was a heart-stopper but that seems to be the way the All Blacks are playing these days. Sure, they pushed passes and dropped passes and made what many of us would consider to be too many mistakes - but they seem commited to playing an adventurous style and you have to congratulate them for taking the match-winning chance when it arrived.

All right, you can argue that they might have won at Carisbrook last night more easily by playing a more conventional test-match-style game but you can't argue with results. They are still learning this style - as we saw with all the mistakes - and someone will cop it one day soon.

One thing I will say is that their attacking does put the defending side under pressure. It's real pressure when you have to race up out of the blocks and defend a side which attacks you as hard as the All Blacks do.

If you look at Keven Mealamu's try to win the game, you'd have to say that the Boks would be very disappointed at letting him in.

Their defence was superb but, for that try, the All Blacks wheeled the ruck and Mealamu spun out - and I reckon the big hole he found was caused by just one thing: pressure.

They certainly don't help themselves at times. Jerry Collins' pass which was intercepted by Ricky Januarie was a real no-no. Twenty-five or 30 metres out and he pops a pass in front of his posts.

It's not on. There was no need to pop it and he should have corked it. That's the winning and losing of test matches right there and you have to take your hat off to these All Blacks that they could come back and clinch it at the death.

For the All Blacks, I thought Leon MacDonald had a good first half. He ran well and he passed and kicked well and if he was guilty of popping a pass he should not have, so did most of the rest of the team.

He kicked for goal well and I thought the All Black selectors showed they had got it dead right when Luke McAlister came on. He steadied things, came up with that extra little bit of creativity just when it was needed and I'd say he has cemented his All Black future with this appearance.

The selectors got it the right way round, didn't they? They needed MacDonald's steadiness and experience at first and I think it wouldn't have worked by starting with McAlister. However, it worked well bringing him on later.

Tony Woodcock had an excellent match - he scrummed very well and upset the Boks and that was what that little skirmish was all about. He got under the Boks' skins and they tried to upset him.

I was a bit alarmed about Chris Jack. He went hard for most of the first half but I thought he was conspicuous by his absence in the second and I wasn't surprised to see him subbed off. Ali Williams had done well enough to that point but I thought he really stepped up when Jack went off.

I've aimed a few barbs at Ali before so I really want to make the point that he did the business when he had to this time.

Piri Weepu had an excellent match, totally overshadowing Januarie, who I thought had a very ordinary game until he intercepted Collins' pass.

Rokocoko was highly dangerous and, for the Boks, Schalk Burger was his usual self - part bandit, part rough house and an admirable loose forward. He should dye his hair, because it makes him too obvious when he gets into our side of the ruck so often.

However, the Boks have become the polar opposite of the All Blacks. They embrace caution. It was nearly good enough last night but I'd prefer adventure was rewarded, rather than caution.

Still, it's a style that suits them but, when they had the ball and had to score a try to win, you didn't really ever have the feeling they could create a touchdown.