The All Blacks were like a boxer looking to the corner for the white towel as Rassie confounds critics once more

Rassie Erasmus could barely talk when interviewed after his team’s Master Class in Wellington. His voice was hoarse from screaming into his microphone for 80 minutes, not to mention some triumphant yelling at the final whistle as he and his assistants danced a jig in the coaches’ box.

They had every right to blow off steam because, as a group, they had held their nerve amid growing disapproval of the Boks’ iffy start to the Rugby Championship, which had the world champions one-from-three. They were also unimpressive losers at Eden Park in a game that had been billed as having the magnitude of the 2023 World Cup final.

Sceptics were saying that Rassie’s fascination with “Tonyball” was taking the team too far away from the DNA that had won the last two World Cups. A former Bok hero said in a television studio that the Boks were drifting away from their traditional strengths.

The subtext from many critics was that the Springboks are not the All Blacks, so why have we brought in a Kiwi coach in Tony Brown, to teach our players the All Blacks way?

If the Boks had lost in Wellington, the rancour would have ratcheted through the roof. Unquestionably, the direction Rassie wants the Boks to evolve in was on trial in Wellington.

What I love about Rassie is that from the Monday after the loss at Eden Park, he said to the rugby world, “Bring it on!”, and announced a team featuring a brand new backline.

There was no retreat into the laager. No return to backs-against-the-wall, “skop, skiet, and donder” rugby.

Heck, he even rested Eben Etzebeth. For many, it was unthinkable that the Boks could choose to rest their talismanwarrior for a must-win match against the All Blacks.

We know that the plan was always to rest Eben for this match, and also the experienced midfield combination of Damian de Allende and Jesse Kriel.

The selection for this weekend’s match had mostly been done before the squad left South Africa.

There was not even the insurance of Handre Pollard on the bench. No Handre to come on and coolly fire over penalties to win a tight match. No, Rassie went for the attacking flair of Manie Libbok, along with another game-breaker in Grant Williams, plus the blockbusting Andre Esterhhuizen.

The team selection had “attack” written all over it, in green and gold capital letters.

No 7-1 forward split. No Bomb Squad and three backline players tasked with injecting yet more attack when they came on.

Here is the thing. Rassie trusts his players. There was no player he brought to New Zealand for the two matches that he did not believe could do the job.

I have to admit that I was dubious about the Boks taking on the All Blacks without Eben and De Allende, the former so immense in the pack and the latter the cornerstone of the backline.

But what happened? The pack fired magnificently, despite Etzebeth’s absence, and Damian Willemse came in for the other Damian and won the Player of the Match award.

And deservedly so, although the award could have gone to a host of other Boks, notably Jasper Wiese. I thought the latter was staggeringly good, a raging bull on both sides of the ball.

I think Rassie knew that his team was not far from clicking. Sometimes the disappointment of defeat for fans clouds judgment — in the second half at Eden Park, the All Blacks were hanging on.

And in the second half at the Cake Tin, they were praying for the final whistle after a blisteringly good second half by the Springboks swept five tries past the All Black defence, without reply.

I have covered many Test matches in New Zealand and experienced how difficult the All Blacks are to beat on their home soil.

And I never thought I would see the day that the All Blacks would be so comprehensively beaten that they pretty much gave up. In the last 15 minutes, the dazed Kiwis were like boxers looking to their corner in the hope of the white towel.

Once more, Rassie Erasmus has weathered a storm, kept faith in what he believed in, kept faith in his players, and come out the other side with the world at his feet.

Most importantly, a loud and crystal clear warning has been sounded out to the rugby world — the Boks will head to the 2027 World Cup better, faster, and more lethal than they were in 2019 and 2023.