The All Blacks showed the Lions how to win in South Africa as they ran out 19-0 winners over the Springboks in Cape Town on Saturday afternoon.
New Zealand scored three tries to nil to regain the initiative in this year’s Tri Nations and hand Peter de Villiers his first home defeat since taking over as South African head coach.
South Africa failed to deliver on what was supposed to be a day of celebration as Percy Montgomery became the first Springbok to reach a century of Test caps.
Richie McCaw was his usual inspirational self for the visitors, while Dan Cater controlled proceedings from the All Black No10 shirt.
The World Champions failed to create many clear-cut opportunities throughout the 80 minutes, although had they showed a greater degree of patience they may well have crossed the All Black line in both the first and second periods.
Two unsuccessful penalty attempts shortly after half-time proved to be as close as the Boks would come to getting off the mark in a match in which the All Blacks defence was the dominant factor.
Conrad Smith broke the deadlock in the first half as he benefitted from a clever grubber kick from McCaw, before Carter and Kevin Meealamu both crossed in the latter part of the second 40 minutes.
Carter’s try was the culmination of a 13-phase New Zealand move, while Meealamu’s effort was a far simpler affair. The All Black’s replacement hooker had the easy task of picking up the loose ball just a few metres from the South African line after a poor, looping pass from Jean de Villiers.
South Africa now turn their attentions to their back-to-back clashes with the Wallabies, starting next week in Durban (kick-off 2.05pm).
However, with just one win from four games in this year’s competition, the Boks must now rely on other results if they are to add the Tri Nations title to their World crown.
