The All Blacks raced to a 17-0 lead within the first 17 minutes in Auckland on Saturday they beat the World Champions 35-20.

While the Boks were a lot better in all aspects in the second half, the damage was done in the first 20 minutes.

The Boks' discipline and defence in particular were a concern, and the coach, Jacques Nienaber, said they have to start better.

“The start wasn’t ideal for us,” said Nienaber after the Test.

“I felt we struggled to get into the game because of poor discipline. There were four consecutive penalties and a lot of mistakes compounded by four or five missed tackles and against a quality side like New Zealand, they will capitalise on that.

“They did that, and we played catch-up for the rest of the time. We can’t start like that with penalties and errors, probably some of them unforced and some from the pressure exerted on us, and if you’re going to play catch-up it’s going to be tough to get a foothold.

“I don’t think it’s a thing that we regularly start badly. No one goes out to have a poor start and say, ‘let’s save ourselves for the second half.’ Sometimes it happens and sometimes you make a mistake or two and are on the back foot. We knew what was coming we just didn’t handle it.

“Having said that, I’m proud of the way we came back - we scored 17 points in the second half but unfortunately the damage was done in the first half.”

Next Saturday the Springboks will face Argentina at Ellis Park in the last round of the Championship.

Morgan Piek OFM Sport