Never before has the game of rugby seen such a superior team as the current crop of All Blacks, and the gulf between them and the rest of the world is only widening.

Spurred on by the genius of players like Beauden Barrett, who on current form might well be the world’s most valuable player, the All Blacks have humbled all before them.

It’s only a matter of time until they eclipse the current 17-match win streak world record, and unless the Boks pull their socks up we’re in for another pounding in Durban on October 8.

In case you missed the match here’s a quick two-minute wrap – apologies in advance:

For now let’s just focus on Saturday and the 41-13 defeat, with Sport24 highlighting a couple of the more pressing issues. We’ll start with Elton Jantjies, because those wheels well and truly came off:

As good as Jantjies is in a Lions jersey, he simply doesn’t seem capable of making the grade at Test level.

His tactical kicking was again below par and glaring errors – when he dropped the kick-off straight after the Boks had scored, as well as restarting the second half by kicking out on the full – were inexcusable against the world’s best.

Jantjies’ defence was lauded by several pundits on Saturday, yet they forget that those tackles were made with the Kiwis still getting over the advantage line. It was brave tackling, but not effective in a defensive structure already at sixes and sevens. Simply being brave doesn’t cut it at this level.

There’s no denying Jantjies’ talents, but those moments of magic need to outweigh the negatives and at Test level he is not doing that.

Then there’s the man on his inside, Faf de Klerk, who had his worst game in a Bok jersey. A far cry from those heroics against Ireland (HERE), and if we had a proper number nine waiting in the wings (sorry Rudy Paige) his days might be numbered too:

As exciting a player as he is, his general game management and tactical kicking is not up to standard.

…the most glaring of De Klerk’s errors was when reserve All Black scrumhalf TJ Perenara broke off a scrum to score late on the game.

What was alarming is that he did not score on the blindside, it was on the openside where De Klerk should have been standing.

Instead, he was standing in a flyhalf channel, leaving acres of space for Perenara to canter over. The coaching staff will argue that it was the flank’s (in this case Jaco Kriel) job, but not in my book.

I also played scrumhalf – albeit at a lower level – but it’s a basic of scrumhalf defence that you learn at Under-10 level.

Anyone know where the creative spark in the backline is supposed to come from? Nah, thought not.

The buck stops with Allister Coetzee, but one can’t help but feel he isn’t being done any favours by a backroom staff sorely untested at international level:

Chean Roux, who served as technical advisor to the Boks for periods last year, has been thrown into the deep end as defence coach.

It was a big blow for SA Rugby to lose defence guru Jacques Nienaber, who has joined Rassie Erasmus at Munster.

Nienaber was the Stormers’ defence coach when Coetzee was in charge there, with the Cape side building a reputation as having the best defence in the competition.

Then there’s Mzwandile Stick, Allister’s assistant, whose lack of coaching experience has also been put under the spotlight of late (HERE).

It just seems odd that, given how much experience we have floating around places like the SuperSport studio, we don’t make better use of that expertise.

When the Proteas ready themselves for a subcontinent tour, preparation often includes someone who knows how to play spin talking to the batters. That didn’t work out on the tour to India, granted, but the idea is a step in the right direction.

Why then don’t the Boks make better use of some of our former coaches and players, guys who know what it takes to head to New Zealand and put on a decent display?

Talking of former coaches, let’s hear from Nick Mallet:

“It wasn’t a result that was a surprise, quite frankly, given the development of our team and how well New Zealand are playing and the relative skills difference between their players and ours. It would have been a surprise if the Boks had managed to hold the All Blacks to 10 points.

“I think any team playing against the All Blacks struggles to sustain a challenge over 80 minutes. The little things in the second half didn’t unfortunately go right for the Boks. They kicked the ball out on the full at the start, three lineouts went astray. When playing the All Blacks, you cannot lose your set piece, because turnover opportunity – a lost lineout, poor kick or turnover – is a try-scoring opportunity for them.”

“Let’s also give credit to the All Blacks. They are coached to have a look at the defensive structure and then try to attack the weakness in that. And they take very good decisions. If the initial defender shifts, they’ll go into that gap to keep momentum and if the space is out wide, the ball goes wide. So, while we must improve our defence, let’s credit the All Blacks for often making the right decisions.”

It’s true, you have to take your hat off a side that is at the absolute peak of their powers.

Then again, the Boks have lost to an under-strength Argentinian team and an Ozzie outfit that is amongst the worst they have fielded in recent times.

Whatever the case, we need to start resigning ourselves to the facts. We are no longer able to compete with the world’s best, and we might be in for a real nasty surprise come the end of year tour to Europe.

As for the rest of the Rugby Championship? Stock the fridge, start drinking hours prior to kick-off and pray for the best.

[sources:sport24&sport24]