Stuart Barnes: All Blacks’ epic win over South Africa proves Ian Foster has wasted talent

New Zealand may have lost five of their past six matches before the weekend but all those defeats were inflicted by powerful opposition. France, Ireland and South Africa have justifiable claims to be the leading triumvirate in world rugby. It takes a special team to beat the world champions at Ellis Park.

For most rugby nations, these would be potent defences of Foster’s position. But we are dealing with New Zealand, one of the greatest serial winners in the history of sport. The odd defeat is an aberration for the All Blacks, a sequence of losses is a crisis, especially when two of those defeats were on home soil against northern-hemisphere opposition. If you don’t believe me, read the rugby history books.

And then we have Saturday’s win itself. It was by some distance the best effort by a New Zealand side under the leadership of Foster but the 42-19 hammering of Ireland was a decent effort, as the next fortnight of international defeats for the home side would paradoxically emphasise.

Good as it was, 80 minutes is an insufficient time frame in which to evaluate a team. This game was played under exceptional circumstances. New Zealand, to quote their under-pressure skipper, Sam Cane, were “circling the wagons”. It had the feel of a last stand.

Teams cannot sustain the level of performance witnessed on Saturday when the emotions were so obviously beyond the usual. This was do-or-die rugby. New Zealand did it but it was an 80 minutes of eyeballs-out intensity. The team, the captain, the camp cannot repeat this trick too often.

There’s also the unusual circumstances attached to the game to consider. The Springboks’ decision to start Joseph Dweba, a rookie, over Malcolm Marx was a huge mistake. South Africa are a side who thrive on intensity and efficiency. The Bordeaux Begles hooker came up light on the latter. In their first meeting, the Springboks squeezed the set pieces. They maintained possession and territory, gradually wearing down their fabled rivals with the accuracy of their forward play.

For the first 30 minutes of the second game, while Dweba was on the field, South Africa wasted set pieces and butchered a catch-and-drive lineout close to the Kiwi line. Marx had only just emerged from the replacement bench when the All Blacks scored to secure a 15-point lead. Yes, they played their way back into the contest, but by this stage New Zealand had rediscovered the joy of their counterattack, and with it their confidence.

From lost lineouts and turnovers, South Africa saw the black shirts pouring into space and downfield with great speed and skill. The genie was out of the bottle, as the likes of Rieko Ioane and Will Jordan galloped past defenders, whereas a week earlier they ran laterally away from what appeared to be an impregnable green brick wall.

To create the illusion that a rugby pitch isn’t full of space to exploit, it is vital to master the set pieces. This enables a team to control the tempo. South Africa’s weakened front row opened the door to New Zealand.

That so many of their individuals were good enough to tear strips off the renowned South Africa defence isn’t a defence of the coach; it’s a reminder of the talent that has been wasted and a reason to be shocked when the All Blacks lose five from six games against any side in the world.

New Zealand will not be circling the wagons when next they take the field, against Argentina in a fortnight. The pressure will be of the usual sort – an expectation to win and win well. Yet the Pumas also pulled themselves from the mire with an astonishing 46-point turnaround from the week before, in defeating an injury-stricken, rudderless and error-prone Australia 48-17.

For a spell, all Argentina had to do was kick the ball downfield and the Wallabies would find a way to gift them a score. Michael Cheika’s team will not find similar generosity against New Zealand. Jordie Barrett and Jordan were as dominant in the air against South Africa in the second Rugby Championship match as they were overwhelmed in the first.

The Argentina-Australia fixtures have been Gilbert and Sullivan to South Africa-New Zealand’s Beethoven. Light-hearted trills compared with the grandeur emanating from Africa.

It goes without saying that nothing but a New Zealand win will suffice. But the quality of performance, without the backs-to-the-wall mentality, has to be high. As it does for the rest of a Rugby Championship through which New Zealand should now breeze.

New Zealand should ask Scott Robertson to become their head coach, despite what happened at Ellis Park. I suspect Foster will be given the next four games to balance the negatives of all that went before their epic win and keep his position through to the World Cup. It may yet be that one unforgettable triumph in Johannesburg proves the most pyrrhic and bittersweet of victories for New Zealand rugby.

– The Times

Originally published as Stuart Barnes: All Blacks’ epic win over South Africa proves Ian Foster has wasted talent