First half chances see All Blacks beat Boks in RWC opener

The ‘final before the final’ lived up to its bill in Yokohama as both teams delivered spirited performances in their first encounter of pool B. 

The scrums and breakdowns were a major point of contention though as critics and fans alike bemoaned the lack of consistency and clear decisions made by referee Jerome Garces.

The All Blacks claimed a number of penalties from scrums, while attempts to make steals at the breakdown were a lottery, with Garces offering no real clarity or definitive calls at ruck time.

At full time, New Zealand were the side that made the most of their attacking opportunities despite some periods of dominance from the Springboks and their three tries in the first half proved decisive.

The Springboks may have showed flashes of brutal dominance, but some glaring handling errors and gaps provided by their blitzkrieg-style rush defence gave New Zealand enough chances to seal the win.

First-half chances give All Blacks the edge

The first few minutes of the match brutal as both sides played at a high tempo. South Africa seemed to have the early upper hand defensively and asserted early pressure on the Silver Ferns.

An early infringement gave Handre Pollard an opportunity to put the Springboks into the lead. The flyhalf didn’t falter with his first penalty attempt of the evening, taking the Springboks into the lead at 3-nil before the five minute mark.

The All Blacks then found themselves camped in their own have for the next ten minutes as South Africa battled to make real headway deep into their 22.

The Springboks had their first real stab at the All Blacks line after a few phases took them short of the 22. Shifting the ball down the right hand touch line, a short grubber from Willie le Roux saw Cheslin Kolbe tackle Richie Mo'unga over the dead ball line.

READ: Kolisi - Urgency at breakdowns key for Boks

Referee Jerome Garces called the teams back for a penalty after New Zealand had strayed offside and Pollard lined up his second penalty of the night. The Springbok pivot’s penalty ricocheted off the posts, letting the All Blacks off for the infringement in their half.

On the 20th minute mark, the Springboks looked to shift the ball wide from an attacking lineout on halfway. After the first phase, Faf de Klerk fired a pass out behind a drifting Pollard. The All Blacks back line pounced on the ball and kicked it down field.

Anton Lienert-Brown managed to recover the ball and sprinted for the try line but was brought down by Springbok speedster Makazole Mapimpi. The left wing was then penalised for not releasing the tackled player.

The infringement gave Mo'unga an easy penalty in front of the posts and the All Blacks flyhalf made no mistake leveling the scores at 3-all.

After a couple of phases off the restart, some stern defence had New Zealand stuck just inside their half. Mo'unga opted to put a small cross-kick to right wing Sevu Reece. Mapimpi had shot out of the defensive line and wasn’t able to take down his opposite wing.

Reece raced into the Springboks half and linked up with Ardie Savea, who was brought down ten metres short of the line. The All Blacks quickly recycled the ball and fullback Beauden Barrett attacked the line at pace, cutting through a half gap before offloading to George Bridge.

The left wing managed to beat the cross cover defence to score New Zealand’s first, as well as his, try of their Rugby World Cup campaign. Mo'unga's conversion put the All Blacks 10-3.

The Springboks continued to apply their aggressive rush defence strategy after the restart. The All Blacks maintained possession for some time which eventually led to their second try.

Moving the ball to the left hand touchline, Lienert-Brown took possession and cut back inside to find a gap left by the rush defence of the Springboks. The New Zealand outside centre surged into space and found the support of lock Scott Barrett on his inside. 

Finding himself at fullback, Pollard attempted to intercept the pass from Lienert-Brown, but he ended up clattering into Willie le Roux, who was tracking to tackle Barrett. As a result the second-rower cantered away to score under the posts. Barrett’s try was converted by Mo'unga to give the All Blacks a 17-3 lead.

On the 37th minute, Mo'unga had another shot at goal for an infringement at a ruck near the left hand touchline but the flyhalf was unable to convert.

The Springboks played out of the rest of the half applying massive pressure deep in the All Blacks half, but couldn’t make the most of their foray near the All Blacks line.

Cheslin Kolbe set the second half alight with a jaw-dropping break down the right hand side of the pitch. The wing was brought down just before the line and the ball popped loose. The All Blacks opted to try and run the ball out from behind their try line.

Passing the ball in open play, the Springboks managed to snatch an intercept and regained possession. After a couple of phases, blindside flank Pieter-Steph du Toit spotted a gap at the ruck in front of him.

The flank picked the ball up and broke away to score under the posts without a hand laid on him. Pollard converted to make it 17-10.

The Springboks then began to dominate proceedings with the lion’s share of possession. After a dominant passage of play, Pollard slipped into the pocket and slotted a drop goal to reduce the All Blacks lead to 17-13.

The All Blacks managed to get another opportunity to kick at the posts from a scrum penalty deep in the Springboks half. Mo'unga knocked over the three-pointer to give his side a seven point buffer at 20-13.

The final nail in the coffin came from another penalty inside the Springboks half. With Mo'unga having been substituted, Barrett stepped up to kick his penalty of the evening, extending New Zealand’s lead to 23-13.

The Springboks fought for the remaining ten minutes but were starved of possession - with the All Blacks holding out for a hard-fought 23-13 win.

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