View photosKEY POINTS:
Top marks for effort, but oh those errors.
I felt the All Blacks tried to play the game the right way against the Springboks - and at the moment in my book the right way is tight, no frills rugby, where getting the basics is the key to unlocking the opposition defence. That will be the order of the day at the World Cup in the key matches.
There was plenty of endeavour and you could see what the All Blacks were trying to achieve.
But when you make 20 handling errors in a test you've got problems.
This is not new and it is disappointing that for all the time and effort put into the squad, the ball is still being dropped that often.
One of the spinoffs of that is that the All Blacks put the ball into the scrum just twice in the first half at Jade Stadium, and that's directly related to turning over the ball.
We have a formidable scrum, but we are not able to make the best use of it if we don't have the feed more often.
Individually some players caught my eye. Mils Muliaina is an outstanding footballer, and he so rarely makes a mistake. On the wing, Doug Howlett was strong and Joe Rokocoko, considering he only got a late callup shortly before the start, did well. Dan Carter took a decent step forward on Saturday night after being a bit off colour in recent matches.
He looked to dictate more but he should think twice about the inside pass. Good defences don't fall for that.
I'm sure the All Black selectors will be happy with Keith Robinson. Not only did he win four lineouts, two of them were off South African throw-ins, and he adds glue to the pack's work.
Reuben Thorne got through plenty of defensive work but it seemed to me there was little effective pick-and-go work by the forwards, which I was looking for. Keven Mealamu seemed the only forward providing regular go-forward with the ball in hand.
Piri Weepu didn't do enough to move ahead of Byron Kelleher as the preferred halfback in my book. They are similar players whereas Brendon Leonard offers a point of difference. He's a made-to-order impact player and I believe that will be his role through the World Cup.
I was intrigued by the tactical decision to have Carter and others doing little chips or grubber kicks inside the South African 22. I wonder if that was a tacit admission that they aren't getting enough penetration by keeping the ball in hand. A case of looking for a plan B.
That makes it fascinating to ponder the tactical approach against the Wallabies, another solid defensive outfit, at Eden Park in the crunch Tri-Nations clash this Saturday.
The Springboks will go home pretty happy. All sorts of dire predictions were put about for them on Saturday and they plugged away pretty grittily, only falling away in the final stages.
I'm sure coach Jake White will have seen enough from some to pencil a few more names into his Cup squad.
