The All Blacks stomped their way forward, smashing a poor Vodacom Bulls side 50-19 in their Greatest Rivalry Tour fixture at Loftus Versfeld.
While it was expected the Bulls would test the All Blacks, it turned out to be a one-sided affair, where one side was clearly in form and the other was stuck in the middle of their pre-season.
And to be honest, if you miss 42 tackles against the All Blacks you will always come off second best.
And while the tourists will be smiling, playing franchises in pre-season who can only play in patches, must be reviewed when the tour is over.
While the excitement of the tour will now pivot towards the test, and the wisdom of playing franchise matches in the middle of the pre-season will be something that will be debated the first half certainly didn’t do the tour justice.
STARK DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SIDES
The All Blacks played like they were desperate to be a part of next Saturday’s test squad, while the Bulls certainly looked like they didn’t want to be there. You can talk about a pre-season and rust and all that, but commitment is something that shouldn’t be a pre-season issue.
This is, of course, the team’s one chance at facing the All Blacks in a unique game like this. And like the Sharks did on Tuesday, their effort, especially in the first half, was embarrassing.
Because while the 30 000 crowd that turned up looked to their side to put up a fight, they found them overshadowed by an All Black pack that beat them up up front.
The sight of a Bulls team losing the physical battle isn’t one you see often at Loftus Versfeld, but on the night, there were few forwards who could hold their heads up high. The scrum - missing the indomitable Wilco Louw and Gerhard Steenekamp, was reasonable, but nowhere near the standards that the Bulls needed for this game. And to be honest, even with a pre-season there are some warning signs ahead for the URC.
It is understandable - a player like JF van Heerden last played for the Bulls almost a year ago - and it is clear the Bulls were nowhere near they needed to be for this game.
LOUW AND GROBBIES MADE A DIFFERENCE
It was only when Elrigh Louw and Johan Grobbelaar, ironically the only two current Springboks released for the fixture, took the field that the Bulls looked pretty decent and found some sort of parity, but it was only for a while.
Because as everyone knows, if you give the All Blacks a turnover, they are deadly. And the Bulls were the most gracious hosts asking the All Blacks to help themselves to tries at one point.
Was this any better than the Sharks thrashing? Not for Bulls fans, and like their demolition at the hands of Leinster in the URC final and the shootouts they lost against Bristol and Bordeaux at the beginning of the year they were hopelessly outgunned.
Grobbelaar and Louw’s introduction will only serve to let Bulls fans wonder what could have been had the Springboks been allowed to play in the fixture. But that is, of course, a moot point.
The Bulls also - perhaps because of their own pre-season fitness levels - decided to try and grubber and chip over and past the defence with almost every attack in the first half. This was gobbled up by Beauden Barrett at the front, and it was only when they played more direct that they got some inroads.
At one point, with six minutes to go, the second half was shared 19-apiece but it was the first that the All Blacks did all the damage.
WINGERS STOOD OUT
Wingers Josh Moorby and Leroy Carter both put in some excellent showings, scoring a brace apiece and were matched by captain Codie Taylor, who got a brace of his own.
Rieko Ioane also put in an excellent cameo performance, but it was the forwards, Fabian Holland, Anton Segner and Peter Lakai who enhanced their reputations on the night.
The Bulls were denied a try early on when Juan Else looked like he went over, but there was inconclusive evidence he had scored.
But from there the Bulls conceded two penalties in a row and the All Blacks were downfield, and a 15 metre maul setup a move for Moorby to run in his first.
The Bulls looked as if they scored when Hanro Liebenberg grubbered through and beat Fabian Holland to the ball, but replays showed Willie le Roux had knocked the ball on beforehand.
With everything going against them, they started missing tackles by the handful, and the All Blacks exploited their passive defence all too easily.
Moorby got his second before Francois Klopper was yellow carded for lazy running, and Taylor got his first from a five metre tap and go.
Disappointingly the half ended with Taylor’s second, which started from the Bulls being pushed off their own ball and the turnover rumbling downfield. As the Bulls trudged off the field it was 24-0.
SECOND HALF BULLS WOKE UP
The scored quickly in the second, Ruan Vermaak bursting over and the TMO ruling him short, but the referee overruled him and gave the try anyway.
That seemed to give Bulls fans some hope, but chasing the game against the All Blacks hardly ever turns out in your favour. A minute later the All Blacks had turned over the ball and Carter had scored in the corner.
This was followed up by Ioane’s score, which also came from a turnover.
The best moment of the night for the Bulls came when Jeandre Rudolph broke from the back of the scrum, fed Curwin Bosch, who, in turn, drew two defenders and unleashed Stravino Jacobs down the sideline. A superb finish from Jacobs was certainly something to behold.
But that was where it ended for the Bulls. Marcell Coetzee got a try later on, but the All Blacks ticked over to go to 50, and while it wasn’t as bad as the Sharks drubbing, it certainly was a reminder that the tour timing needs to be better if these fixtures are to have more parity.
The tests will be a lot tougher and the Boks will have taken note, but again it was a disappointing night where fans expected, and probably deserved better.
SCORERS
VODACOM BULLS - tries: Ruan Vermaak, Stravino Jacobs, Marcell Coetzee.
CONVERSION: Curwin Bosch (2)
NEW ZEALAND - tries: Josh Moorby (2), Codey Taylor (2), Leroy Carter (2), Rieko Ioane, Wallace Sititi.
CONVERSIONS: Beauden Barrett, Josh Jacomb (4)