Another Scintillating performance from New Zealand gave them a 31-17 win over South Africa who are now a full 10 points behind the All Blacks in the Tri-Nations standings.
Irish referee's take no guff from Springboks with the number four on their back. Last week Alan Lewis gave Bakkies Botha an early yellow card, now with Botha beginning his nine week suspension for a separate incident Alain Rollaind spotted the incumbent, Danie Roussouw tapping the forehead of Richie McCaw on the side of a ruck. The move was intended to rile McCaw and it did. Rolland, evidently, felt the contact was too close to the eye as he reversed the penalty and sent the second row for a 10 minute breather.
Roussouw had turned a kickable penalty, 40 metres from goal into a 10 point haul for the hosts. Had Dan Carter not been struggling with the boot, it would have been even worse, the fly-half put a potential seven points left of the posts in that period.
Against 14 bodies, the All Blacks thrived, Maa Nonu was first to touch down after just six minutes. A typical Kiwi move, full of quick rucking, angled running, offloads, perfect passes and with Nonu, a clinical finish in the corner. Unstoppable for 14 mere mortals.
Just four minutes later, Jacques Fourie turned over possession just across the halfway line, Piri Weepu, collected the loose pill and strode straight through the middle of the park before picking an expert pass to Mils Muliaina flying on the right wing. The fullback barely broke stride and had enough pace to outstrip, Jean DeVilliers and Mourne Steyn in his trip to the line.
However, the Springboks cannot be carved open quite so readily when they have the full compliment of players. And by the time Carter had finally registered his first kick of the night to make the score 13-0, the hosts were struggling as much as the visitors to develop a pattern in testing conditions.
For all New Zealand dominance early on, South Africa battled their way to within seven points by half time; Ricky Januarie attacked off a line out, off loading to DeVilliers, the resulting ruck feeding Roussouw, who managed to redeem himself for the early yellow card by bundling over the line near the posts.
Coming out for second half at 13-7, Morne Steyn will have been delighted to notch his second kick, an early penalty further narrowed the gap and Carter must have wondered if his profligacy with the boot would come back to haunt him, and when Rene Ranger touched down his first test try, the Crusaders 10 missed again from the touchline.
The answer to Carter's quandary was given just minutes later when Weepu took over kicking duties, landing a 40 metre penalty from the right side through swirling winds. The makeup of the wind is more familiar to Weepu who plays his Super 14 rugby with the aptly named Wellington Hurricanes and on seeing their hometown hero dissect the post the Westpac stadium suddenly had a carnival atmosphere, entirely ignorant of the howling wind and sheeting rain.
That joyous rapture paled in comparison to the introduction of Israel Dagg. The young fullback on in place of winger Rene Ranger,produced a scintillating solo try leaving four would be springbok tacklers for dead before wriggling into the corner.
Dagg collected the ball on the 22, faced with none other than Pierre Spies and Schalke Burger, he left them grasping thin air as he wisped inside. With those two back row behemoths behind him, the sight of Zane Kirschner was a mere formality.
With Jimmy Cowan now on in place of Weepu, even Carter was kicking straight again.
Burger later grabbed a try to give some hope of a losing bonus point, but 31-17 it remained and the All Blacks will be delighted with their 10 out of 10 start to the Tri-Nations.
South Africa, have no time to rest, and although weary, must stop off in Brisbane to face Australia next week before returning home. If they are to retain any hope of the Tri-Nations crown then four points against the Wallabies is a must.
New Zealand: 15 Mils Muliaina, 14 Cory Jane, 13 Conrad Smith, 12 Ma'a Nonu, 11 Rene Ranger, 10 Daniel Carter, 9 Piri Weepu, 8 Kieran Read, 7 Richie McCaw (c), 6 Jerome Kaino, 5 Tom Donnelly, 4 Brad Thorn, 3 Owen Franks, 2 Keven Mealamu, 1 Tony Woodcock
Replacements: 16 Corey Flynn, 17 Ben Franks, 18 Sam Whitelock, 19 Liam Messam, 20 Jimmy Cowan, 21 Aaron Cruden, 22 Israel Dagg
South Africa: 15 Zane Kirchner, 14 Jean de Villiers, 13 Jaque Fourie, 12 Wynand Oliver, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Morné Steyn, 9 Ricky Januarie, 8 Pierre Spies, 7 Francois Louw, 6 Schalk Burger, 5 Victor Matfield, 4 Danie Rossouw, 3 CJ van der Linde, 2 John Smit (c), 1 Gurthrö Steenkamp
Replacements: 16 Chiliboy Ralepelle, 17 BJ Botha, 18 Andries Bekker, 19 Ryan Kankowski, 20 Ruan Pienaar, 21 Butch James, 22 Gio Aplon
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