No letting up for dominant All Blacks

Daniel Carter was awarded Man of the Match. Ross Land / Getty Images

PRETORIA - A ruthless All Blacks attitude and continued Springboks mediocrity had both sides expressing an air of inevitability about next week's result after the tourists' 45-26 Tri-Nations rugby win here today.

It said a lot of the All Blacks' state of mind that they withstood an early onslaught, made numerous errors, spluttered to halftime with a 16-11 lead, then delivered the hammer blow with three tries in 12 devastating minutes.

"We felt really good after the break, that we could get out there and really expose them," outstanding centre-turned-fullback Mils Muliaina said.

"We had plenty in the tank and the boys were pretty positive as long as we worked hard."

There was no panic like in their previous loss, 16-22 to the Springboks in Cape Town 13 months ago.

It gave coach Graham Henry his first test win in South Africa at his third attempt and stretched the All Blacks' winning streak to 15 - within two of the record held by coach Fred Allen's team of the 1960s.

It leaves the question: what can they do next Sunday (NZT) at the vast soccer stadium at nearby Rustenberg if they make a solid start and the Springboks continue to offer little threat on attack and kick aimlessly?

The All Blacks had excuses today with 11 changes, a new-look forward pack and just a few days to recover from a 17-hour flight and the climb to the thin air at 1400m above sea level.

"Certainly some of the guys looked like they were walking in porridge for a while and it took them a while to get going," Henry said.

"Once they got going they played superbly, I thought, a very good attack in the second half, got the ball wide and scored some great tries.

"We'll be better next week with another seven days here, we'll be acclimatised so we won't have an excuse next week about the altitude."

The All Blacks scored five tries to three and made the home side look like they were the ones treading porridge after halftime as Luke McAlister, Sitiveni Sivivatu and Muliaina raced in for counter-attack tries to make it 38-14 with 20 minutes left.

McAlister's try brought up the All Blacks' 10,000th point in their 412th test match.

Despite two late tries to Springboks midfielder Jaque Fourie the damage was done, and Rico Gear finished the job with a 50m dash in the dying minutes.

There was the inevitable Daniel Carter magic after an ordinary start when he muffed two kicks, a monster 61m penalty goal on the halftime hooter which saw his teammates grow another foot taller.

He kicked seven from eight for a 20-point haul, and his neat crosskick handed prop Neemia Tialata his first test try.

There are injury worries, with Greg Somerville (torn achilles tendon), Leon MacDonald (hip), Chris Masoe (ankle) and Reuben Thorne (broken thumb) all returning home, replaced by prop John Afoa and flanker Marty Holah who arrive tomorrow.

Lock Ali Williams could also miss next weekend as he fronts a judicial hearing after being cited for punching, but there will again be widespread changes to the starting lineup.

Somerville and MacDonald's departures rocked the All Blacks in the opening quarter but it saw Muliaina shift to fullback and spark some attacking raids.

Captain Richie McCaw seemed more irked at the All Blacks' slow start, but tipped his hat to Henry's rotation policy and the side's maturity.

"That's been the key in the Tri-Nations, the guys have kept composure and haven't panicked," McCaw said.

"That's the advantage of having guys that have all played in the last three weeks. We've got a huge strength there now, guys are ready to play."

Springboks coach Jake White praised the All Blacks rather than bag his own team, but he has a mountain to climb to get them up to speed.

It was their fifth consecutive loss, closing in on their record of seven straight from the mid-1960s.

While they gave the All Blacks' lineout headaches in the first half there was little else aside from numerous scuffles as frustration grew and the All Blacks rumbled on Jerry Collins, Chris Jack and Keven Mealamu off the bench.

White rated them "one of the best All Blacks sides".

"The one concern I do have is the amount of space we gave them. That worries me and we have to look at why we allowed them so much space to run at us," he said.

- NZPA