So much for New Zealand playing their "B" team

So much for New Zealand playing their "B" team, the question still remains can New Zealand win without Dan Carter and Richie McCaw? The Springboks restored the countries pride by winning their final Tri-Nations game of the season, giving them a much needed boost ahead of the Rugby World Cup.  

It was clear that the Boks played with a lot of passion. The All Blacks had six opportunities to score and only took one of them.

The Boks, lead by stand-in captain Victor Matfield admitted that victory was vital to restore the faith of the fans after some dissapointing performances the past couple of weeks. He admitted that  "we haven't been good in the last three weeks and we just wanted to show our fans today that we can go to the World Cup and defend it".

Already a lof of damage has been done to the Boks confidence levels. Victor Matfield added "you don't beat the All Blacks if you are not ready for a World Cup, so we are very happy with where we are as a team but we know that there is still a lot of hard work. It wasn't our best yet and we can still improve,"

Compared to last weeks game against the Aussies, this was a much better performance. If this is how they'll improve after each game... bring on the the World Cup.

The Boks were superb on defence and although there were some breaches, the covering defenders made some crucial tackles. There was a lot of things to be pleased about for the South Africans.

Heinrich Brüssow : was outstanding, he was kicked in face early on and covered in blood for most of the game, while he turned the game on its head. Few players are capable of having such a great influence on a match, but Brüssow is one of them. He tackled well knocking down runners twice his size and did everything you could ask of him and then some more.

Jannie du Plessis: the good doctor proved that there is at least one top class tighthead props in South Africa. An incredible scrumming performance against the fearsome All Blacks front row.

Bismarck du Plessis: is one of the best hookers around. He is mobile and he brings a lot of physicality. The muscular hooker was menacing with ball in hand is just so strong that he is difficult to stop when he was some momentum going forward. A few missed line-out throws did take a little of the shine off of an otherwise excellent performance. His appetite more game time was evident in his obvious displeasure when he was replaced

Bakkies Botha: He was in the thick of things doing what he does best in the engine room and cleaning out rucks to keep the Kiwis honest. Launched himself into a few massive tackles and was a mountain of strength in every physical exchange

Tendai Mtawarira: Who came on for Gurthrö Steenkamp at half time gave a fantastic performance at scrum time and few props are able to brag about forcing Ben Franks to buckle

Jaque Fourie: Made two crucial interceptions on defence in the first half and was the general organising the defence brilliantly to close down several of the All Blacks' best scoring opportunities. Didn't have as much work to do on attack, but he is worth his weight in gold in the Bok midfield

Bryan Habana: Started with a fantastic cover tackle on Jimmy Cowan to stop the All Blacks scoring inside the first five minutes and built his game from there. Looked more like the Habana of old than he has for some time.

The Springbok defence at this stage was magnificent.