--- title: "Ruthless All Blacks punish error-strewn Springboks to take charge of series" description: "The All Blacks up are up and running after dismantling the Springboks 33-16 (halftime 12-13) at Ellis Park on Saturday." type: "NewsArticle" publisher: "Daily Maverick" site: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za" section: "FIRST BLOOD" author: "Craig Ray" author_url: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/author/craig-ray/" canonical_url: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2026-08-22-ruthless-all-blacks-punish-error-strewn-springboks-to-take-charge-of-series/" published: "2026-08-22T21:00:24" updated: "2026-08-22T21:19:30" lang: "en-ZA" word_count: 1289 --- # Ruthless All Blacks punish error-strewn Springboks to take charge of series > The All Blacks up are up and running after dismantling the Springboks 33-16 (halftime 12-13) at Ellis Park on Saturday. By Craig Ray · Published 22 August 2026, 23:00 SAST · Updated 22 August 2026, 23:19 SAST ## Key points - All Blacks ripped the Springboks apart at Ellis Park, winning 31-16 to take a 1-0 lead in the four‑match series and hand South Africa their worst showing of the Rassie Erasmus era — a 12‑match winning streak ended. - It wasn’t just New Zealand’s finishing — the Boks gifted them possession with 23 turnovers (mostly knock‑ons), cheap errors and two sin‑bins that allowed the tourists to pile on points. - Will Jordan scored twice (others from Josh Moorby, Fabian Holland and Luke Jacobson) as Dave Rennie’s quickly‑gelling side stayed composed under pressure and pounced on every Springbok mistake. - Rassie now faces a crisis: the Boks were physical but sloppy (notably a lost try by Malcolm Marx and a charged‑down restart after a delayed kick), with little time to fix things before Cape Town next week. ## Content The All Blacks drew first blood in the Greatest Rivalry series, thanks to their clinical finishing and a woeful handling performance by the Springboks to produce their biggest winning margin at Ellis Park. The All Blacks deserve credit for the way they stayed in the game at critical times, especially either side of halftime, when they were under pressure and then pounced on their chances. But they will seldom have been given so many free plays from mistakes by the Springboks. Five tries to one tells a story of how one team made the most of their chances, and the other butchered most of theirs. This was a win of guts and character from the All Blacks, who at one stage looked ready to implode under pressure. But they held firm through a combination of Bok errors and their own deep well of resolve. This might easily have been the worst performance in the Rassie Erasmus era, ending a 12-match winning streak and putting the Boks on the back foot in the four-match series. The All Blacks “won” the second half 21-3. ![Felix-Rugby Ellispark](https://cdn.dailymaverick.co.za/i/dJiGbaasUq2CHh09UxAWzAj32V0=/200x100/smart/filters:strip_exif\(\)/file/attachments/orphans/AAAA18_791025.jpg) *All Black lock Fabian Holland and hooker Asafo Aumua celebrate their victory over the Springboks on 22 August 2026. (Photo: Felix Dlangamandla)* The Springboks turned the ball over 23 times – mostly through knock-ons – and the All Blacks thrived on the steady feed of possession from the fumble-fingered Boks. With so much ball, the All Blacks blew the error-strewn Boks off the park to deliver a decisive blow so early in the series. Wing Will Jordan scored two tries to take his Test tally to 53 in 58 Tests, and there were others for wing Josh Moorby, lock Fabian Holland and flank Luke Jacobson, with flyhalf Ruben Love converting four. ### **Fell apart** All Blacks coach Dave Rennie has quickly turned the team into a formidable unit in only his seventh game in charge. It was also his fourth win in five matches against the Boks at Test level, having won three times with Australia in four outings. Bok coach Rassie Erasmus will have much to ponder because even though his team led at times, they never looked comfortable and eventually fell apart. Despite being under pressure in the scrum, that was about the only area of the game where the All Blacks struggled, showing that there is more to the game than dominance in one area. In the 25 minutes either side of halftime, the Springboks were turning the screw through their powerful scrum. The All Blacks conceded five scrum penalties as the Boks kept turning to the set piece. [Read more How De Allende’s warrior spirit has fuelled Boks’ rise and ongoing success August 21, 2026 ![Image](https://cdn.dailymaverick.co.za/i/KEgu_vJo7dR7m_nHcRif0eCWKsE=/450x0/smart/file/attachments/orphans/2233304276_318336.jpg)](https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2026-08-21-how-de-allende-s-warrior-spirit-has-fuelled-boks-rise-and-ongoing-success/) But they went one scrum too many and referee Matt Carley, who had an excellent game, awarded a penalty to New Zealand when loosehead Gerhard Steenekamp illegally tried to gain the upper hand. That turned the momentum. Everywhere else, the All Blacks were a step ahead of the Boks, both with the ball and with their brains. They had to absorb immense pressure at times, but they never looked rattled. It was the reigning two-time world champions who were rocked. Questions must now be asked about why the Boks looked so off the pace. ![Felix-Rugby Ellispark](https://cdn.dailymaverick.co.za/i/AZghBzwSReGErK5ar1CTf6eljYA=/200x100/smart/filters:strip_exif\(\)/file/attachments/orphans/AAAA2_514842.jpg) *Josh Moorby of New Zealand scores a try against the Boks on 22 August 2026. (Photo: Felix Dlangamandla)* The Boks actually led 16-12 after 45 minutes, and appeared to be turning the screw through their physicality. But they kept making mistakes to keep New Zealand in the contest, and one of those errors turned the tide of the game. From the restart to Cheslin Kolbe’s third penalty, scrumhalf Grant Williams took too long to launch a contestable kick. All Blacks lock Fabian Holland charged it down and collected to score. ### **Never looked back** With Ruben Love’s conversion, the All Blacks suddenly led 19-16, and never looked back as the Boks’ composure deserted them. As the mistakes piled up, the All Blacks’ confidence grew, and by the end the Boks were a shambles. In the space of a minute flank Marco van Staden and scrumhalf Cobus Reinach were sin-binned for illegal clearing and a deliberate knock-on respectively. By then the game was up anyway, but the All Blacks drove the advantage home with their fourth try and a second for Jordan, to seal an emphatic win. How the Boks respond in Cape Town next week will be interesting because there is so much to fix and so little time to do it. ![Felix-Rugby Ellispark](https://cdn.dailymaverick.co.za/i/eYHjzYToVy24OFXUeRiZUyrZgsg=/200x100/smart/filters:strip_exif\(\)/file/attachments/orphans/AAAA14_435121.jpg) *Bok No 8 Jasper Wiese carried strongly all day against the All Blacks on 22 August 2026. (Photo: Felix Dlangamandla)* ### **Wasted opportunities** The Springboks would have been in a much more comfortable position at halftime, if they hadn’t wasted a golden 10-minute period in which the All Blacks were under severe pressure in their red zone. But hooker Malcolm Marx lost the ball, as he was about to score from a rolling maul from a lineout. All Black centre Jordie Barrett did enough to disrupt Marx, but normally the big hooker would have scored from there. ![Felix-Rugby Ellispark](https://cdn.dailymaverick.co.za/i/DqJB9O3MReNXdBKwoseJvCcmej4=/200x100/smart/filters:strip_exif\(\)/file/attachments/orphans/WFD_1939_759753.jpg) *Fans at Ellis Park Stadium ahead of the clash between the Springboks and New Zealand in Johannesburg on 22 August 2026. (Photo: Felix Dlangamandla)* In the final 10 minutes of the opening half the Boks were relentless, but on attack they were sloppy. The Boks had 60% of possession in the first half, a good deal of it deep in All Blacks territory, but they were inaccurate with ball in hand. There were missed passes and dropped balls. They were a little “off” at crucial moments, but on the up side, they had started to assert themselves physically on New Zealand. ![Felix-Rugby Ellispark](https://cdn.dailymaverick.co.za/i/IzQAPAJWu9ihXSyOCwmPp3XVp6c=/200x100/smart/filters:strip_exif\(\)/file/attachments/orphans/AAAA10_641414.jpg) *Pieter-Steph du Toit and Grant Williams tackle Cam Roigard. (Photo: Felix Dlangamandla)* All Blacks props Ethan de Groot and Tyrel Lomax were having a torrid time in the scrums, and in open play Bok No 8 Jasper Wiese and captain Pieter-Steph du Toit increasingly started to dent the tourists’ defensive line. ### **Lack of accuracy on attack** But the lack of accuracy on attack allowed the All Blacks to stay in the contest. And any All Blacks team still in the game, is a dangerous one. The tourists showed signs of their cutting edge with two well-taken first-half tries scored by wings Jordan and Moorby. It was hardly surprising that Jordan scored the first try of the series after Kolbe had put the Boks ahead with an early penalty. From a lineout maul the All Blacks pressurised the Boks’ line, and after three phases scrumhalf Cam Riogard threw a clever pass to Jordan that gave him just enough room to beat Grant Williams’ despairing tackle. It was Jordan’s 52nd Test try in his 58th Test. The Boks responded almost immediately when replacement centre André Esterhuizen knocked Moorby on his backside as he stampeded to the line. The try started with a penalty to touch, a failed maul and then some surging runs by prop Wilco Louw and Du Toit, who created the quick ball. ![Felix-Rugby Ellispark](https://cdn.dailymaverick.co.za/i/KLGysyQ8v7jdNfXmc_bD7-7RK-o=/200x100/smart/filters:strip_exif\(\)/file/attachments/orphans/WFD_2013_375454.jpg) *A flypast over Ellis Park Stadium in Johannesburg ahead of the Springboks’ clash against New Zealand on 22 August 2026. (Photo: Felix Dlangamandla)* Esterhuizen was on for Kurt-Lee Arendse, who left the field with suspected concussion. It meant the Boks needed to put defence captain Jesse Kriel on the wing. Moorby atoned for his defensive lapse minutes later when he gathered a slick pass from flank Tupou Vaa’i and galloped 30m for the score. **Scorers:** South Africa – Try: André Esterhuizen. Conversion: Cheslin Kolbe. Penalties: Kolbe (3). New Zealand – Tries: Will Jordan (2), Josh Moorby, Fabian Holland, Luke Jacobson. Conversions: Ruben Love (4). *Craig Ray’s travel was sponsored by Monster Energy.*