Five takeaways from Eden Park ... Street smart All Blacks outfox, outmuscle Springboks

The All Blacks extended their 88-year unbeaten streak against the Springboks at Eden Park with a 24-17 win in Auckland on Saturday.

Independent Newspapers’ John Goliath unpacks the key takeaways from a Test match that left more questions than answers for Rassie Erasmus’ charges.

1. Boks caught cold by calamitous start

South Africa were chasing the game from the first whistle after conceding two soft tries to Emoni Narawa and Will Jordan inside the opening quarter. Handling errors and defensive lapses — including missed tackles by veterans Willie le Roux and Malcolm Marx — handed the All Blacks early momentum, and the hosts never relinquished control. With the rain setting in and the ball turning slippery, the Boks' error count only grew, and their attack lacked the fluency to recover in the first half.

2. Breakdown woes becoming a full-blown crisis

South Africa were once again second best at the breakdown — an alarming trend that has persisted throughout this Rugby Championship campaign. The youthful All Blacks pack competed ferociously at every ruck, starving the Boks of clean ball and exposing a team long known for its physical dominance. With similar problems against the Wallabies last month, the Boks’ inability to assert themselves at the contact point has become a major concern heading into the second Test.

3. Lineout misfiring at the worst possible time

The Springbok lineout — traditionally one of their greatest strengths — faltered badly under pressure at Eden Park. Malcolm Marx struggled to connect with his jumpers, and New Zealand’s defensive pressure mirrored the blueprint used successfully by the Wallabies in Johannesburg. Without a functioning lineout, the Boks couldn’t launch their trademark mauls or generate go-forward ball through midfield carries, robbing them of one of their key attacking weapons.

4. Golden generation showing signs of fatigue

The conversation around the age profile of South Africa’s core group is not going away. Against both the Wallabies and the All Blacks, the Boks appeared a step slow in defence and sluggish in their attacking intent. The golden generation of World Cup winners have delivered for years, but Erasmus now faces tough decisions about succession planning and when to begin integrating the next generation in earnest.

5. All Blacks playing on the edge — and winning

The All Blacks were street smart and cynical when they needed to be. Ardie Savea’s 100th Test was capped with a match-defining turnover near his own tryline, but it was emblematic of a dominant breakdown display. The Kiwis frequently pushed the limits — slow roll-aways, going off feet — but were allowed to do so thanks to their dominance in the collisions. It was a throwback to the savvy, disciplined All Blacks teams of old, who knew exactly how to manipulate the margins to their advantage.