The World Cup winners, who up until half-time were given a rough ride by the Springboks, led 12-9, but then moved into top gear, something they have done the whole championship, with victories over Australia and Argentina, home and away, testify this.
The second half saw them completely dominate the home side, as they eventually scored a total of nine tries with TJ Perenara scoring twice, and fly half – Beauden Barrett and Israel Dagg also going over the line, as they registered 57 points at Kings Park.
The 57-12 thrashing meant that for the first time in nearly 20 years, the All Blacks had scored 2 points more than there last best score against South Africa, which was 55 points in 1997.
South African coach, Coetzee said afterwards, “It was painful, we have no excuses. They are world class and we are not there yet. We gave our best effort, but sometimes your best is still not good enough. That was the case here today. The players and coaches worked hard this week, but we have to have a hard look at ourselves. We are the only ones who can turn this around.”
For New Zealand, with the Championship in the bag and 6 wins out of 6 record, all eyes will be on Eden Park on October 22, when the third Bledisloe Cup match with Australia will be played out.
A win against Australia, will seal a record breaking 18 straight test win for the All Blacks. A run which begun when they lost 27-19 to Australia in Sydney in August 2015.
