Peter Bills: Jet-lagged chumps given a thunderous wake-up

Bakkies Botha's head-butting of Jimmy Cowan dealt a blow to the Springboks' chances against the All Blacks in the opening minutes of last weekend's test. Photo / Getty Images

Last Saturday, We got the world champion performance alright, but it wasn't from the world champions.

Their belief - arrogance personified - that they could just rock up a few days before the Auckland test and ignore the ruinously wasting influences of jet lag; that no matter who the opposition, they could just turn up and it would be business as usual, suffered an almighty demolition job.

An insider within the Springbok camp revealed hours before Saturday night's test that key players were still wandering around yawning, that they were in no shape to contest the All Blacks if Graham Henry's men took it to them. Well, they certainly did that.

The All Blacks delivered the rugby performance of 2010 to date and in terms of world importance it was hugely significant. It told the entire rugby world, South Africa included, that when these All Blacks have the hunger and desire to prevail, not only are they murderously hard to get past but they can produce a game of exquisite quality, class and control, not to mention enormous aesthetic appeal.

It also revealed that top-quality rugby, full of pace and thrilling running, especially on the counter attack, is perfectly possible within the present laws if your coach possesses the courage and conviction. Northern Hemisphere sides, please take note.

No wonder Graham Henry's face was wreathed in smiles afterwards. No wonder Peter de Villiers' was wreathed in furrows of concern. If you wanted to lay down a marker of a performance for the next 14 months leading up to and including the 2011 Rugby World Cup, this was surely it.

There was so much to admire about New Zealand's performance, so much wrong with South Africa's game.

The All Blacks' ability to work with the ball at pace and even under heavy pressure at close quarters was exceptional, especially in the first half.

They suffered a slight drop in terms of precision of execution in the third quarter, but then regained the great continuity and all-embracing control that had marked their first-half display. No matter; overall, it was a coruscating display of the very highest order.

Fast, forged on rapidly recycled ball from the breakdown, they proved the old adage that no defence can continually cope if stretched this way and that without respite.

In this regard, the new law interpretations have made a great difference because they have reduced the negative role of a team's loosies and their previous licence to kill or slow down breakdown ball. The new interpretations have forced players to think more positively.

So what went wrong for the South Africans? After all, an indignity such as this is not common currency for world champions.

They were off the pace, surprised and stung by the snap, crackle and pop of the All Blacks' game. Bakkies Botha's yellow card, not to mention his wild assault upon Jimmy Cowan, made the South Africans' lives so much more difficult. His early absence handed an initiative to New Zealand the Boks were never able to wrest back.

Bakkies is a God-fearing man, but how he squares these ludicrous acts that so damage his reputation and his team's chances with his maker, is unclear.

Without a forward base, the Boks had nowhere to go. They could not repel forever the hordes of black shirts. They were second-best in the scrums, an on-going concern for them, and beaten at the breakdown.

Yet before this beautiful country runs out of champagne celebrating such a wondrous display, a word of warning: South Africa are not world champions for nothing: like Douglas MacArthur, they will return. Very likely it will be at Wellington tomorrow where they will be better prepared for the fray.

Mils Muliaina called last week's game out-and-out brutality. The likely level of physicality at Wellington could render it lightweight by comparison.