Best Boks v New Zealand: Ox And Impact Players Deliver

The men in Green and Gold looked to end their arch-rivals’ 50-match unbeaten run at their Auckland fortress, but a dreadful start and inability to cash in on 22-metre entries saw them fall short of their goal.

The Boks were on the back foot almost immediately as Emoni Narawa scored inside the first two minutes and found themselves in a world of trouble at 14-0 down after a Beauden Barrett 50:22 led to a try by Will Jordan in the 18th minute.

The visitors were able to stop the bleeding for the remainder of a testing first half, in which they couldn’t convert pressure into points due to simple errors, and their lineout was a total shambles. As a result, they only had a 23rd-minute penalty goal by Handre Pollard to show for their efforts in the wet conditions.

The Bok bench made a major difference in the second half, with the bolstered scrum providing the momentum for Malcolm Marx to go over for their first try and close the gap to 17-10 after an earlier Damian McKenzie penalty goal. Quinn Tupaea touched down while Kwagga Smith was in the sin bin, before replacement scrumhalf Cobus Reinach darted over to make it a seven-point game again in the 74th minute.

Given their high error rate, the Boks would’ve been satisfied with a draw and pushed hard for a game-levelling seven-pointer, but Ardie Savea – playing in his 100th Test – sealed the deal for the host with a clutch turnover as New Zealand kept their remarkable Eden Park record intact and snapped their four-match losing streak against the Boks.

Our top three Springbok standouts were:

Ox Nche

The big man was immense in all departments as he put in a massive 68-minute shift.

Nche won two scrum penalties, the first in the 34th minute and the second just shy of the hour mark, and helped the Boks win a tighthead that set up Marx’s try.

He was also an additional source of momentum with ball in hand, providing serious punch with several carries, and came extremely close to scoring, with only a desperate defensive intervention denying him as he twisted over the try line.

Busy in defence as well, it was top stuff by the popular loosehead.

Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu

With the Boks going nowhere slowly, the multi-talented Feinberg-Mngomezulu was called upon in the 48th minute, replacing Willie le Roux at fullback, and aced his first challenge with a brilliant leaping take of a high bomb under pressure.

Injecting pace and guile into the attack, he made a good line break and a slick chicken wing offload to his captain Jesse Kriel, and made a massive difference when he shifted to flyhalf in the 59th minute.

With Handre Pollard having had a rare off day, the 23-year-old was a breath of fresh air at first receiver and slotted two crucial conversions to put the Boks within touching distance of a draw.

He also stood up strong in defence, most notably, stopping big Samisoni Taukei’aho close to the try line.

Wilco Louw

Speaking about an impact player, the moment of the match from a South African perspective came in the 62nd minute when the Bok scrum, spearheaded by Louw, obliterated the All Blacks to secure the heel against the head that led to Marx’s try.

With New Zealand having loaded their bench with arguably their better front row, Rassie Erasmus – perhaps in a reactionary move – opted to start Thomas du Toit and go with the destructive Louw on the bench.

Du Toit, for the umpteenth time, wasn’t up to Test standard, and one can’t help but wonder what damage the Boks could’ve done with Nche and Louw working in tandem from the get go.