Peter Bills: Judgment deferred till Henry's men face worthier opponents

The All Blacks' coaching brains trust bent a stern gaze upon this test from some lofty eyrie at Loftus Versfeld.

Much of what they saw may have left them unconvinced.

For a start, their men were confronting virtually a South African B side. But as things turned out, that was unfair to B team players. The Springboks were so leaden-footed, cumbersome, predictable and ponderous that a New Zealand C-grade side would probably have wiped the floor with them.

So what value then, in another 2006 Tri-Nations victory and a further bonus point? In reality, not a lot.

That is one reason Graham Henry and his colleagues did not go overboard at what ensued in the Pretoria sunshine. Another was that the All Blacks were lamentable in the first quarter and their lineout was a mess for much of the afternoon, partly due to Anton Oliver's wobbly throwing. Sure, the ball landed, but neither recipient nor deliverer quite knew where it would end up.

For those first 20 minutes, New Zealand looked as though they were still somewhere in the air about 12,000m up en route to South Africa.

Two early Springbok penalties were the precursor to a slick try by Fourie du Preez. Eleven-three to the Springboks and a difficult afternoon ahead? Not a bit of it.

From there, the All Blacks reminded us of the basics required to play this game successfully.

Paramount among them are speed and guile.

New Zealand's players had such qualities in bucketloads behind the scrum, South Africa's looked as if they were playing with buckets over their heads, such was the crass lack of vision and invention, not to mention pace.

The gap between these two great rugby-playing lands is at present more like a chasm.

New Zealand could get away with a shocking start, yet still score five tries, miss several more and stroll away with victory. Trouble is, they won't necessarily find such indiscipline, charity or rank capitulation being offered by better opponents.

To see a Springbok side virtually chuck in the towel on two or three occasions in the second half was to understand the sad decline of this once mighty rugby nation.

When wing Akona Ndungane kicked out of defence, he found himself the only player bothering to chase.

And when Mils Muliaina was allowed to run 25m untouched to set up Luke McAlister for a try, the spirits of all those great old, long-gone Springboks of yesteryear must have stirred in angst in their coffins.

For great swathes of time, South Africa were abysmal. Butch James was hopeless as backline pivot, giving hospital passes and totally failing to set up his line. In contrast, Daniel Carter offered a master class in how to defeat the rush defence, create openings and pull a defence out of alignment.

But if you had to nominate just one quality that characterised the vast difference between these sides, it was vision. As in Jerry Collins' quick tap-penalty and release of Sitiveni Sivivatu for his try; as in Collins' clever chip through to put Rico Gear over from 55m. As in Carter's chip over the tryline for Neemia Tialata's first-half try. As in a dozen or more similar instances.

There were many commendable aspects of the All Blacks' win. Their back row was far too quick and dynamic for their opponents, the progress being made by McAlister is hugely exciting and promising. Muliaina's burgeoning class, whether at centre or fullback, is another wonderful positive. So, too, Carter's composure, and of course McCaw's endless supply of quality loose ball and his ability to slow down the opposition's supply.

Against that, you have to cite Ali Williams' absurd tendency towards indiscipline. With the match long since won, he threw a right hook at Johan Muller in full view of the referee.

To hear Irish official Alan Lewis then praise him for his excellent attitude to that point was incredible. Williams could and probably should have been sent off. Such indiscipline surely shortens the odds on Jason Eaton becoming Chris Jack's long-term partner. Just imagine such stupidity in a World Cup semifinal and think what it could cost the side.

Perhaps the greatest antidote to New Zealand celebrations was just how bad South Africa were until the last 20 minutes. We must delay judgment until Henry's men confront a side that play for 80 minutes.

* Peter Bills is a rugby writer for Independent News & Media.