All Blacks v Springboks: Jordie Barrett’s defensive masterclass at Ellis Park proved he’s world’s best mid

His actions were every bit as pivotal in saving that test match as the 55th-minute scrum where the substitute front row found the brakes to halt the backwards march the Boks were inflicting on them. In the second half, Barrett again dropped a thundering Wiese in a copybook tackle, prefacing the Boks’ mishandling, losing another scoring chance.

Just as he was for the Hurricanes, Barrett’s vision and decision-making is vital for the All Blacks. Look at the long pass that produced Tupou Vaai’s break and offload for Josh Moorby’s try – and Barrett’s clever grubber that pinned the Boks on their line late in the game. The two yellow cards that followed in quick succession sealed the match.

It was a masterclass from Barrett; how he wasn’t named official man of the match is an enduring mystery.

Defence as attack

It sounds daft after a test match won by five tries to one, but it was decided by defence – Barrett not the only one to cover himself in glory. Stand up Fabian Holland, whose tackling was almost as telling and whose turnover early in the second half halted a burgeoning Boks attack after first-five Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu cleverly re-gathered his own high kick.

Top marks too to Ruben Love whose 52nd-minute tackle on the misfiring Feinberg-Mngomezulu probably saved another try, followed quickly by a copybook effort dropping massive, stampeding centre Andre Esterhuizen (who had happily blazed through Moorby’s tackle to score in the first half). Those 20 minutes covering the end of the first half and the beginning of the second was when the All Blacks dammed the Bok flood and then began draining away their power.

Will Jordan made a key turnover and his break-out of defence, linking with Damian McKenzie, led directly to Luke Jacobson’s try. Ardie Savea also made a defensive turnover which began the movement from which Barrett grubbered through to clinch the game.

It’s hard to see it happening quite that way again, mind. That test was such a confluence of unexpected moments (like Barrett’s strips and Holland’s charge-down try) that you’d bet the mortgage against the cards falling that way again – and against the Boks being quite as wasteful and inaccurate.

Humdrum scrum?

One of the All Blacks’ big problems will be the scrum. We don’t know whether it was de Groot’s injury that destabilised the All Blacks scrum, although there has (rightly) been a lot of significance attached to the work of the replacement front row in the second half. They achieved parity with pretty much the same Boks eight who had been dealing to the All Blacks’ starting pack.

Bomb squad? Bomb squib. The sight of most of a new Springboks pack arriving in unison didn’t occur and Luke Jacobson’s try on the hour mark came from a solid All Blacks scrum with seven of the eight Boks starters still in the pack.

Maybe it was fatigue and/or the substitution of prop Ox Nche after 45 minutes that tipped the balance, but it seemed odd that coach Rassie Erasmus didn’t open the bomb doors. He perhaps fooled himself with the previous ease the Boks dealt with the All Blacks scrum. Nche will be there again this weekend, so no matter the identity of the All Blacks front row in Cape Town, they have a heap of work to do on that platform to avoid being monstered again and spending so much time on defence.

Who needs game time?

The big question before the match was how those with little or no game time – Cam Roigard, Savea, Jordan, McKenzie and even Holland – would fare. Answer: amazingly well, thanks. In last week’s column, I talked about the “engines” in this All Blacks side and, fresh or not, they revved up exceedingly well – and kept doing so.

Misjudging Matthew

In that same column, I may have misjudged referee Matthew Carley – whose command of the match was a big surprise. He officiated impeccably, let the game flow, had a smile on his face much of the time, communicated well, and overruled the TMO twice (and rightly so). Who’d have thought it?

Paul Lewis writes about rugby, cricket, league, football, yachting, golf, the Olympics and Commonwealth Games.

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