The All Blacks beat the Springboks by 19-8 in a wet and windy Wellington to open the much-awaited 2008 edition of the Tri-Nations on Saturday.

In conditions which should have favoured a South African pack featuring six of their World Cup-winning team nine months ago, it was the All Blacks who eventually established superiority up front.

The early forward exchanges were something of a stalemate as both teams threw themselves into their work with passion and pace, something not seen on New Zealand shores for some time.

But it was the All Blacks who consistently got more numbers to the breakdown as the game wore on and the frantic pace took its toll on both sets of forwards.

One of the features of the game was the niggly off-the-ball play by both teams, the most notable example being when Brad Thorn slammed John Smit after the All Blacks had conceded a penalty. However, while the game threatened to erupt at times, both teams eventually got on with the game.

Springboks winger Bryan Habana showed why he is one of the best finishers in the world, picking up the only try of the first half after a good break by Jean de Villiers. The All Blacks answered with a try of their own just after half time, Jerome Kaino finishing off a good attacking raid which featured Dan Carter twice.

South Africa’s much-vaunted locking pair of Bakkies Botha and Victor Matfield, who were without doubt the best in the world in 2007, were completely dominated by Ali Williams and Thorn. Matfield, in particular, was noticeably absent from everything but the lineouts, perhaps finding the step up from the French second division to Test match rugby too much for him.


There were a number of standout performances from the Springboks, with Schalk Berger showing why he is considered one of the best flankers in the world, Conrad Jantjes solid at fullback and De Villiers dangerous in the midfield.

Boasting a loose-forward trio with far more experience than their counterparts, the Springboks should have dominated at the breakdown, but an outstanding performance from stand-in captain Rodney So’oialo allowed the home side to achieve parity in the loose. So’oialo was well supported by rookies Adam Thompson and Kaino, while Sione Lauaki made a tremendous impact off the bench, making a number of powerful runs in the final quarter of the game.

The Tri-Nations now moves to Dunedin next week where both teams face off again. The All Blacks have a number of things to work on, their lineout in particular, while the Springboks will need to create more chances from the set piece if they are to leave New Zealand with any points in the 2008 tournament.