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Another chance wasted. The All Blacks are still in with a chance to take the Tri-Nations and Bledisloe Cup double but they struggled to impress against a second-string Springboks side.
The All Blacks' untidy first half bellowed everything about a lack of cohesion, an absence of basics, a
frenzied approach, an inability to punch forward before they went wide.
It was hard not to be negative. Most people you ran into after the match, former All Blacks, rugby men and officials, were asking variations on a theme. Do they not realise rugby is still a north-south sport not an east-west one?
The quirky English television programme Grumpy Old Men would have been swamped with interview candidates if a snap poll of some in the crowd was an indication.
Three late converted tries to blow the scoreline out to 33-6 could not camouflage the ABs' scruffy showing.
It was an indictment on their standard of clinical play that they made 26 linebreaks but didn't cross the tryline until 12 minutes from the end.
Midfielder Luke McAlister made several strong breaks and then spoiled them with sloppy passes.
The attacking intent is to be admired but it is often injudicious or careless.
Bright sparks were Joe Rokocoko, who came into the game late when Sitiveni Sivivatu strained a calf muscle in the warmups, replacement halfback Brendon Leonard, Richie McCaw, Keith Robinson, Daniel Carter, and Mils Muliaina.
Elsewhere it was tough going. The All Blacks only had two scrum feeds in the first half to launch set moves but they had plenty of other possession they wasted in lateral scrabbles.
The absence of Jerry Collins for most of the match meant McCaw had to carry the ball too much to help Keven Mealamu, passes were delivered poorly, possession coughed up in the tackle or support men penalised for going off their feet.
Piri Weepu never challenged the line so the Springbok defence just spread while he also kicked averagely. Isaia Toeava had his blinkers when he got into an overlap channel, Reuben Thorne lacked any sting, Carl Hayman was unusually untidy. The list could go on.
For the third straight match handling errors were in double figures. This time there were 20 handling mistakes. The unwanted trend is on a disturbing rise.
This was a very modest performance, although the coaching staff suggested it was an improvement on the last two tests and that the All Blacks had played most of the rugby.
They have been pushing those sort of judgments after a match before changing their assessments later.
How will they explain a scoring drought of 122 minutes at Melbourne then Christchurch before zippy halfback replacement Brendon Leonard touched down on Saturday night? How do they equate that with the attacking clout which is supposed to ooze from that side?
Where was the composure, the patience and control which will be required to knock off much tougher foes later this year than the second-string Springboks?
It was lost in the persistent selection roulette the panel has spun, the anxiety it has created, the fretful play which has resulted from their insecurity and lack of matchplay together.
After all the talk following the MCG defeat about getting their heads right, there was marginal evidence of that assurance. Carter played the corners far more with his tactical kicking and varied his play neatly but there was a flighty look about the rest of the All Black focus.
They were frothy and frantic rather than measured and assured.
The Boks brought a resolute scrambling defence which created All Black mistakes, so much so that even a man down they were only six points adrift with 12 minutes left.
No doubt the All Blacks have not shown all their World Cup tactics but rivals can see the general thread, they have seen how to counter the threat, they have watched the pressure points in the All Black strategies.
