). Poite made error after error the whole game and further embarrasses himself with the live audio feed. The discussion of whether to award a penalty try against Piutau for tackling Lambie in the air when it was never from a kick makes a mockery of the standard of international referees.
Ruined the game but where was this much vaunted new found Springbok attacking flair? The red card didn't effectively change anything except taking the gloss of what would have been an AB victory regardless. I don't think I have ever seen one team kick the ball so much over 80 minutes. NZ now balance their game much more intelligently and choose wisely when and from where to attack. This Bok tactic of continuous kicks is not going to win a game versus this AB team. The All Blacks played at a frenetic pace with width and accuracy and looked dangerous the whole game with the players, from 1 to 15, making short work of getting over the gainline.
Shut the critics up
Take a bow Sam Cane....what a huge, huge game. The sight of him drenched in blood and coming back again and again for more and more must have won over the harshest of critics. The defensive work all round from the ABs was impressive, as were the lineouts while the scrum needs some polish. Barrett came on with no little pressure in the biggest game this year and didn't disappoint. Dangerous ball in hand, taking it to, and through, the line on a number of occasions and shocking most by his tackle count. My player of the day is hands down Brodie Retallick. I said he would have a breakout year and he just keeps getting better and better. I would say this was his best ever outing in a black jersey. Fearless in defense, busy and physical in the tight, and a real attacking threat in the open.
Surpassed Whitelock as the world's premier 2nd rower?
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