Congratulations to the Springboks, winning a fantastic Test match. Why did they win?  Essentially because of their improvement in the areas which lost them the first Test. In Dunedin, their scrum equalled the vaunted All Black eight, the tactical kicking of the world champions, headed by Percy Montgomery, was better, their loose-forward trio outmuscled the New Zealand back row and their lineout was able to impose itself.

South Africa broke a ten-year winning drought in New Zealand, ending the All Blacks’ world-record 30-game winning streak at home, and won for the first time in 87 years at the House of Pain. Their first-half gave them superiority on a points basis, but it was the character shown in the second half, where it was fair to say the home team were dominant, that gave them a solid win.  Their victory also saw them regain the world No.1 ranking.

They needed to win, for it would have been inexcusable for such a powerful Springbok squad to have lost 2-0 to such an inexperienced New Zealand team. After 25 minutes – when Ali Williams was forced off by injury – six All Blacks had fewer than five caps, and only five had more than 30 international games.  However, last year’s exodus and the absence of Richie McCaw and the two first-choice locks are no excuse.  There is no such thing as a weak All Black side, and they had their opportunities to win.

The All Blacks were outplayed in the first half, but did enough in the second stanza to steal what would have been an impressive against-the-odds victory. The character shown by the new-look team was incredible, and with flanker McCaw and Brad Thorn back on deck for their South African safari, it would be a brave man to claim that the Springboks are guaranteed victory even in their giant coliseums on the cape.

The mettle shown by the two greenhorn All Black locks against the most experienced and devastating second row in the game would have impressed even Victor Matfield. Ma’a Nonu continues to improve, and there was no doubt that the two best inside centres in world rugby were on display. But it was the defensive prowess of the teams that impressed. The All Blacks’ man-on-man defence was excellent, but the Springboks cover defence is world-class.

Statistically, the home team exerted dominance in the second half – claiming two-thirds of possession and territory in the second 40 - with the Springboks making twice as many tackles and controlling half as many rucks as the All Blacks. But it was the pit-bull fighting quality of the world champions that impressed even die-hard Kiwi aficionados.

Again we were treated to an exquisite struggle, a titanic clash, well worthy of the top two teams in the world. There was some poor ball control and lack of fluidity from both sides; but this is to be expected from a contest between two teams of such class. This was a game where one could not pick the winner until the final whistle, and where we were honoured to watch such a contest, except for the one glaring flaw of the game.

Referee Matt Goddard had a terrible game.  While (thank God) he did not influence the result, his calls at the breakdown and scrum contest were a lottery, and his officiating wasn’t worthy of the best rugby teams in the world. The quality of the top IRB referees is poor, and it galls me to say that the current referees’ boss, Paddy O’Brian, is a New Zealander and clearly clueless as to what is needed for elite officials. 

While Goddard was not so whistle-happy in the second half, five times he stopped either team from taking a quick tap due to a player “not taking it from the mark”. The purpose of the ELVs is to speed up a game, and pedantic whistle-blowing in a game needs to be snuffed out.

Questions still remain over both teams. For the Springboks, their inability to bring Bryan Habana into the game despite desire to play expansively is frustrating – and there are still curious selection issues, especially at No.8 and right wing. What had JP Pietersen done to warrant selection? Why are Pierre Spies and Ryan Kankowski, the form eights of South African rugby, not starting?

For the All Blacks, questions marks still exist over the effectiveness of Andrew Ellis at scrum half – but above all, why have two such inexperienced locks play against the class of Matfield and Bakkies Botha when match-hardened second-rowers from the victorious New Zealand Maori in the form of Jason Eaton and Ross Filipo were available?

Why do the coaches of the two best teams in the world seem to make mistakes that we all can pick from the luxury of our “coaching booths” at home?

Regardless of complaints, the Tri-Nations is now wide open – with the top three teams in the world competing - and the third-ranked Wallaby team entering the fray against the world champions in Perth next week.