KEY POINTS:
This was supposed to be a Goliath and David rugby story. The World Cup holders against the rookie All Blacks.
However like the biblical theme, the less-credentialled side took the decision as the All Blacks used a smarter game and better tactics to continue a domestic winning run
stretching all the way back to 2003.
They upped that streak to 30 wins as they soaked up the immense physical pressure from the World Cup holders and then nailed them with a rousing effort in Wellington.
It was a foul night, though not as miserable as conditions when the All Blacks opened their season at the same venue with a victory against Ireland.
The stakes were much higher, the pressure far greater, the intensity more tangible as the new-look All Blacks defended their patch and their five-year domestic streak against the Springboks.
The hosts were vulnerable. Outstanding flanker and regular skipper Richie McCaw was missing, there were doubts about Ali Williams' frame completing his 50th test, and the side had rookie loose forwards who had to stand up to the Bok threat.
So what did the World Cup champions bring? Boof, bash and Butch, and none of them worked particularly well against the iron will of the New Zealand pack and the inside combo of Andy Ellis and the unflustered Daniel Carter.
He slapped an early close-range penalty against the posts about the time some of the lights failed in the Cake Tin, and was dumped, late, a number of times by Bok tacklers desperate to rough up the Kiwi champion. But Carter was imperturbable. He continued to play red-hot rugby with ice in his brain.
The Boks were not allowed to strut any of their global champion status, they were held in the forwards and when that occurred, they looked as bereft as so many of their sides who have played here in the last decade.
World Cup champions? Yes but proof perhaps that the quality of the last tournament was the lowest of the seven events so far.
The All Blacks made a pig's ear of the latest competition in France but on Saturday in Wellington, they chopped the champions into bacon bits.
New faces, injured men; it did not matter as they stared down the latest global gods of rugby and sent them on their way.
Carter agreed that the All Blacks were not fazed by the wild weather after their dress rehearsal a month or so ago against Ireland. It helped that they knew the ground, knew the angles, had time to digest how they played in that earlier test and could adjust their tactics to suit.
That Carter did was a measure of his class while his opposite, Butch James, was hampered by slow service, his lack of local knowledge and a reduced range of skills.
Like any game in such tough conditions, victory was built on the contributions of the All Blacks wearing small numbers on their jerseys. The forwards were excellent. The scrum was blastingly powerful, too cohesive for the Boks, while the lineout coped well enough and the loose-forwards led by new skipper Rodney So'oialo were too snappy for their rivals.
The bully boys of world rugby tried to stomp and grind their way past the All Blacks but discovered a side who not only stood up to that sort of intimidation but returned it with interest.
James started the early shenanigans, tackling Carter late in what was to become a pattern which referee Stu Dickinson and his cohorts failed to sort out. James altered strategy from the no-arms shoulder charge to the late tackle slap, while there were enough random acts of thuggery to have kept a citing commissioner busier than just the report on Brad Thorn.
While Carter deserves plenty of kudos for his kicking radar and coolness under fire, this was a night when most of the kudos had to be directed towards the pack.
The All Blacks carried a total of 238 caps in their pack against the experience of the Boks whose group took to the field with 392 internationals between them and, as their captain John Smit said, had no better chance than to break the decade-long hoodoo they have hit in New Zealand.
New Zealand's most capped prop Greg Somerville shipped a few catches in general play but clocked his opposite, Andrew Hore threw well to the lineout and busted his way around the park, while Tony Woodcock questioned CJ van der Linde's test credentials.
After a week of fretting about his ankle, Ali Williams bounded through his 50th test and showed how he can handle top-notch matches, while his locking comrade Thorn was a bulldozing menace.
So'oialo claimed the high ground, low ground and most in between, Adam Thomson worked his tail off, and Jerome Kaino hinted at the mix of power and subtlety which he has threatened at the top level.
It will be tougher this week in Dunedin for the teams' repeat meeting but the All Blacks, like the Boks, have room for improvement.
