By the end of the first half the Bulls were gasping in the rarefied air – and the picture was one that the All Blacks will be hoping they can replicate next week at Ellis Park when they confront the Springboks for the first time.
And it’s next week, of course, that this tour is really all about and has been building towards.
The Bulls were just another stepping stone – another opportunity for the All Blacks to be hit by big bodies, asked to scrum against men who wanted the contest and to catch high balls under pressure.
It was essentially another 80 minutes of preparation for the test series and the big positives for the All Blacks are the way they managed the game to play their rugby in the right places and subdue the Bulls in all the physical areas.
The pace and intensity with which they were able to play and the aerobic content they were able to force the Bulls to induce was a mini triumph for the fluidity of their attack and ruthlessness when they were inside opposition territory.
They got all the bits right that they needed to, the most important of which was their scrum. It was fair to wonder whether Xavier Numia could scrummage at this level having never seen him do it, and the answer seems to be that yes he can.
If the Boks were thinking that he might be a weak link if, and most likely when, he comes off the bench next week in the first test, they will be a little disappointed to find that he’s a tough cookie with a destructive edge.
They already knew that Tyrel Lomax is a big man with the technical prowess and power base to be a handful, but he certainly gave them a reminder that he’s a class act in the set-piece and the All Blacks coaching group will be delighted to have got 60 minutes into their premier tighthead.
They will also be delighted at what they got from Anton Segner, who wore the All Blacks No 7 jersey and played like an All Blacks No 7.
He was all over the field, won three turnovers, made big tackles, carried hard and was 80 minutes of non-stop energy in a performance that suggests he will be hard to leave out of the match-day team for the first test.
He’ll likely be joined on the bench by his back-row chum Peter Lakai who wasn’t so far behind Segner in effort and influence and maybe there could yet be an unexpected twist of Rieko Ioane making the match-day 23 after he was again sharp and effective in Pretoria.
The list of individual performers who impressed could be extended to virtually the whole team, but the more important aspect to take from the running of the Bulls at Loftus Versfeld is the way the All Blacks have come to realise what it takes to win in South Africa.
Their mentality was arguably the most impressive thing about the performance – that mindset they had to scrum for penalties, to kick long out of their 22, to hit every collision like it mattered and to be ruthless inside opposition territory.
The All Blacks were still guilty of letting a few good opportunities slip past them, but for the first 40 minutes, certainly, they were lethal when they got inside the Bulls’ 22.
They had a dynamism and directness that will serve them well if they can replicate it next week and throughout the test series.
In this part of the world, it’s a matter of extreme importance to finish the half-chances. The little moments make all the difference and for the first 40 minutes the All Blacks had the patience, focus and accuracy to finish what they started.
Of course, the intensity will rise now. The Boks will take everything to the next level and the power will ramp up to warp factor 10, but the All Blacks at least look like they understand that now and that they have come to grips with what it will take to win next week.
Gregor Paul is one of New Zealand’s most respected rugby writers and columnists. He has won multiple awards for journalism and written several books about sport.
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