Peter Bills: Under sustained pressure, important mistakes being made

The All Blacks' post-mortem into their defeat must address some crucial facts.

Not least among them is the disturbing reality that when subjected to sustained pressure, certain New Zealanders continue to make important mistakes. What is of greatest concern is that this has happened before.

The trend undermined New Zealand's 2003 World Cup campaign and it came back to haunt them.

Rodney So'oialo started the day by generously gifting Bryan Habana a try, courtesy of a ludicrously careless floated pass. He ended it by straying round into the Springbok side of the maul. It cost the All Blacks three points from Andre Pretorius' penalty, and the match.

Certain truths emerged with brutal clarity amid this defeat for the New Zealanders, their first this year.

* The absence of Keven Mealamu is wounding to the All Blacks. They badly miss his ability to take the ball up strongly in broken play, to snaffle opportunities in the loose and his lineout throwing capabilities.

* Tired players are prone to make mistakes. There was an air of general fatigue in the All Blacks ranks.

* Even great players like Daniel Carter cannot just turn it on and off. Thus, the All Blacks backline struggled to make the impact it had achieved at Pretoria.

* The absence of Luke McAlister was noticed alongside Carter. His ability to offer another option, to help take the pressure off Carter especially with his kicks, was missed.

* The lineout problems surfaced again. South Africa pinched several throws from Andrew Hore's delivery. It wasn't much better when Anton Oliver took over.

* New Zealand once again looked susceptible to the old Springbok strength of driving the ball up powerfully through the forwards.

* Were the All Blacks over-confident? Graham Henry said that he expected the South Africans to play a more expansive game, but did any New Zealanders expect South Africa to revive as they did? Did New Zealand ever seriously countenance defeat against a Springbok side with five successive test defeats behind them? It seems doubtful.

* The absence of Leon MacDonald was felt. His vision and control, not to mention his calm demeanour, just wasn't there and was sorely missed.

* An All Blacks side failed to close out the test. They led with four minutes remaining and when a New Zealand side is in front at that stage, you expect them to win.

Henry will analyse and ponder such lessons. It would be completely wrong to say he has been obsessed with extending the All Blacks' series of victories; in fact, he has warned it wouldn't continue forever.

But when the All Blacks, whether they have played well or poorly, get into a position so near the end to win a test you expect them to finish the job. The lack of a ruthless, killer instinct may have surprised and disappointed.

Gradually, inexorably, the South Africans built up the pressure during the second half.

But they looked what they are, a team struggling for self-belief and in desperate need of the adrenalin shot provided by a victory.

In that respect, Australia, who play them in Johannesburg on Sunday, won't thank Henry's men for letting the Boks slip through.

But the key questions that will concern Henry and his coaching colleagues are those above. Many may well be solved with a lengthy rest for the chief combatants.

So when New Zealand arrive in the Northern Hemisphere in November for their end-of-season tour, their coach will surely be entitled to expect a more ruthless, professional finish if such a tight match is again enacted.

Somehow, out in the Rustenburg wilderness yesterday, the New Zealanders suddenly looked vulnerable.

And that just isn't these All Blacks under Henry.

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