Springboks-All Blacks takes: Double banking dishonesty, Fassi the weak link, undercooked selections

The All Blacks let a crucial victory against the Springboks slip away in the final quarter despite holding a 27-17 lead, with a yellow card to Ofa Tuungafasi the catalyst for two late tries to South Africa.

But even throughout the first 60 minutes the All Blacks had a number of areas that will need to improve for the second test rematch in Cape Town if they want to level the two-Test series and keep their slim Rugby Championship hopes alive.

Here are five takeaways from an All Blacks perspective on the first Test looking ahead to Cape Town.

Double banking dishonesty

Doing the rounds on X are suggestions that the All Blacks’ first try to Codie Taylor should have been disallowed due to ‘double banking’, with access to the lineout jumper blocked by another attacking player in the maul, meaning the defensive side could’t sack it.

Blissfully ignored by those promoting the theory is that this situation usually occurs when there is an early engage by the defence.

On Codie Taylor’s try the lineout jumper Ardie Savea hadn’t hit the ground yet before the early engage by the Boks, leading to one of the lifters Tyrel Lomax being trapped in front of the jumper. There is a defensive infringement already before the supposed ‘double banking’ infringement.

Given the speed it which this occurs, whether that is called or not is a far more nuanced decision compared to say, a blatant knock-on in the process of scoring.

The Springboks had the exact same thing occur in the 67th minute maul that led to the Ofa Tu’ungafasi yellow card, with Pieter-Steph du Toit blocking for the lead jumper. The Boks peeled to the right in the same way the All Blacks did, and Tu’ungafasi was sent to the bin for illegally collapsing on the second drive.

A double banking call right there would have saved the All Blacks from losing a player for 10 minutes, the penalty would have been reversed allowing them a free exit and Kwagga Smith’s try doesn’t occur.

Aphelele Fassi is the weak link 

Often the pride of the Springboks under Erasmus, the defence rarely concedes tries.

The All Blacks put four past them at Emirates Airline Park and two tries to left wing Caleb Clarke is enough to tell you that the Springboks were vulnerable out wide.

In particular, young fullback Aphelele Fassi as the last man in the defensive system wasn’t able to close fast enough to prevent the ball getting free.

The All Blacks should have been tapping that well far more than they did in Johannesburg.

Clarke could have had a hat-trick had Ethan Blackadder not blown the simplest of two-on-ones early in the game.

Once Kurt-Lee Arendse was forced from the field through injury, centre Jesse Kriel was moved to the right wing. Clarke’s second score came against that frail edge but they did not go back and test it after that. They didn’t give themselves that opportunity with a final quarter meltdown.

However, Fassi showed he will commit to the tackle but is too hesitant to prevent the pass. If he is given the No 15 jersey again the All Blacks need to take advantage and with a new wing pairing likely in Cape Town, they need to test it.

Poor exits 

The All Blacks ability to exit efficiently is currently horrendous. Something was amiss as it was in Wellington against Argentina.

In Johannesburg at times they didn’t seem to know what the plan was, who is catching and how to get out of the pressure zone.

The Springboks came with a smart plan, with kick restarts sailing high and away from planned jumpers. They targeted the middle often and deep, in awkward spots behind the All Blacks jumping units.

These well-placed kicks led to confusion and indecision from catchers, who were then blitzed by the oncoming kick chasers.

The All Blacks coughed up possession numerous times, immediately give the Springboks the chance to respond.

After the first Clarke try, Savea knocked on a restart to the middle. After Jordie Barrett’s intercept try, a long restart was caught by McKenzie who was swamped by the rush for a turnover. After Clarke’s second try, they took possession back inside their 22 and Barrett kicked out on the full.

After being substituted into the game, Cortez Ratima was asked to clear the lines from a lineout maul where the reserve hooker was delivering the pass. He was partially charged and the Springboks went straight onto attack in prime real estate. Ratima was then penalised trying to access the ball following a counter-ruck.

The play design on that exit seemed ridiculous, relying on the hooker to deliver a pressure pass after detaching. Ardie Savea was seen shouting at Ratima to play halfback, unaware he was sitting back waiting to kick.

The All Blacks have to clean this up and stop the cheap turnovers they giving away after scoring points.

Signs of rustiness 

A number of the All Blacks starters at Emirates Airline Park have had very little rugby this year. The coaches are taking the risk that experience will pay off with the selections.

Will Jordan in his third game back looked out of sorts and a touch off the pace. His read on the Bongi Mbonambi awarded try was poor, leaving the exact spot he scored through just as he detached from the maul. He fumbled a key kick directly outside the 22 in the second half.

Jordan is a world class player in form, but he is trying to find some at test level after missing the entire Super Rugby season.

Sam Cane returned for his first start with the All Blacks this year also. After being eased back with a bench cameo against Argentina, Cane is another player who has had very little rugby this year missing large chunks of the Japan’s League One season.

The former All Blacks captain is capable of matching the Springboks with fire, but it seemed he was ineffective in contact by his standards. It wasn’t peak-Cane.

He finished with 16 tackles and missed four, with one dominant tackle being his hit on Siya Kolisi. He was bounced backward often in contact. He looked like someone who hasn’t played a lot of rugby, which is the case.

Ethan Blackadder is another who has spent a lot of time on the sidelines and is now being groomed into the No 6 role, with three straight starts there.

Blackadder had a high work rate with 13 tackles and 13 carries, repeated efforts across the park, but he too often misses polish.

That non-pass to Clarke from five metres out early was criminal. Although the All Blacks scored from the maul through Taylor, opportunities like that can’t go begging against top four teams.

Savea was nullified by the Boks at the breakdown and Blackadder and Cane weren’t strong over the ball, meaning the back row forced no penalties at the ruck. Those game-changing moments are needed, particularly when on defence inside your own 22.

Right now the All Blacks are missing a couple of extra poaching threats and the selection of experienced, but undercooked players, is not paying off.

Crusaders bizarre selection dominance 

The first team that played the Springboks had a starting forward pack made up with 50 per cent Crusaders players.

When you break that All Blacks’ team down, the Crusaders had 5/15 starters, the Hurricanes 3/15, the Chiefs 2/15, the Blues 2/15 and 3/15 played in Japan.

This is quite astounding given where the Crusaders finished this year, while the Super Rugby champion Blues had zero starting forwards despite playing a forward-dominant game that won them the title.

However, when Blues pair Tu’ungafasi and Sam Darry came off the bench, they didn’t exactly light up the game. The veteran prop was crucially yellow carded and Darry was stripped for a key turnover.

But this All Blacks team has no Super Rugby dominance to rely on. It seems that cohesion needs to be built right now as they are plenty of teething issues.