The Springboks’ fearless physicality enabled them to produce a commendably competitive effort against the All Blacks on Saturday, writes CRAIG LEWIS at Newlands.

After the Boks’ 57-0 hiding in Albany the last time these two teams met, another comfortable victory was expected for the newly-crowned Rugby Championship winners.

In the end, it proved to be just a thrilling 25-24 win for the All Blacks, but this highly competitive effort from the Boks should be viewed in just about as high regard as a victory.

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It said a lot for the character and commitment of this team – and the assertion from the coaches that they are headed in the right direction – but the fact remains that they were unable to close out a win at home, despite producing a dominant performance in various facets of play.

Much had been made in the build-up to this clash about Allister Coetzee’s decision to bulk up the pack with the selection of Lood de Jager and Pieter-Steph du Toit in the starting lineup.

Ultimately, the move worked a treat. The two bruisers added immense physicality to the Bok cause, although much of the Boks’ supremacy up front was down to the influence of captain Eben Etzebeth and abrasive hooker Malcolm Marx.

Etzebeth made gains every time he carried the ball – he completed 41m from 14 carries – and while Marx also made a massive difference with ball in hand, the hooker added to his all-round feats by winning as many as four turnovers.

On defence, De Jager was the standout, making 14 tackles and missing not one, while Du Toit chipped in with 12 as he buried the ghosts of his defensive woes the last time out in the No 7 jersey. Steven Kitshoff also deserves a mention for a powerful performance in his first Test start, with the loosehead prop making 15 carries.

A late red card to Damian de Allende served as somewhat of a spoiler for an otherwise brave effort from the Boks, and it was rather ironic that he came on for Jan Serfontein – who was the pick of the backs.

The Boks’ vastly-improved physicality certainly enabled them to remain competitive in the opening half, with the hosts impressively winning collision after collision.

In the first half, though, their kicking game misfired, with Ross Cronjé putting up a number of poorly-weighted high bombs. It was also from a charged-down kick from Elton Jantjies that All Blacks centre Ryan Crotty scored the first opportunistic try.

However, it was the Boks’ physicality on defence that seemed to throw the All Blacks off their game, with the visitors uncharacteristically failing to finish off a host of try-scoring opportunities.

Just five points separated the sides at the break, but it was notable that the All Blacks had made 388m to 168, while making seven clean breaks to one, with the Boks missing as many as 19 tackles.

By the end of this brutal contest, both sets of players looked virtually out on their feet, but again it was the opportunistic All Blacks who came out on top.

What the Boks proved is that they are certainly nowhere near as poor as that 57-0 scoreline suggested in Albany, and now the next step in their evolution has to be to add a killer instinct to their enduring character.

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