Cheslin Kolbe stood down with immediate effect after grim injury update

The explosive winger lasted just 17 minutes of the third Test before being forced from the field, immediately raising concerns over his availability for the series finale.

Kolbe had already made his presence felt with an important defensive intervention close to his own try line, but his afternoon was brought to a premature end.

The 32-year-old was replaced as the Springboks were forced into an early reshuffle against their greatest rivals.

South Africa eventually recovered from the setback to secure a pulsating 29-24 victory, moving 2-1 ahead in Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry series.

Kurt-Lee Arendse, Jesse Kriel and Malcolm Marx were among the Springbok try scorers as Rassie Erasmus’ side took control of the contest.

Attention will now turn to Kolbe’s fitness ahead of the fourth and final Test.

The two-time Rugby World Cup winner remains one of South Africa’s most dangerous attacking weapons and losing him would be a significant blow for Erasmus.

His withdrawal comes at a particularly difficult time for the Springboks, with the physical nature of the third Test leaving several players requiring assessment ahead of the series finale.

South Africa’s medical team will assess Kolbe before a decision is made over his involvement.

Should he fail to recover in time, Erasmus will be forced into another change to his back three as the Springboks look to complete a series victory over the All Blacks.

For now, Kolbe’s involvement in the fourth Test remains in serious doubt.

Here, we look at the All Blacks trio who failed to stand out when it mattered most.

Love endured a difficult afternoon, missing two conversions and a penalty, with his second conversion attempt greeted by plenty of boos from the crowd.

He was also shown a yellow card while defending on the Boks’ line, although he had worked hard defensively up to that point. Going forward, however, he struggled to get the All Blacks attack into any real rhythm and will be disappointed with his overall display.

The Hurricanes fly-half also lacked the usual running threat that makes him so difficult to defend. That threat often creates space for those around him, even when his playmaking is not quite at its best.

Without it, the All Blacks attack became relatively easy to contain, with only a handful of moments of individual brilliance from his teammates creating the opportunities that ultimately led to their scores.

The set piece was one of the biggest problems for the All Blacks, as they struggled to establish any kind of physical dominance against a powerful Springboks pack that enjoyed plenty of success in that area.

Lomax was solid enough in the scrum for much of the afternoon but failed to exert the kind of influence required against South Africa. He was eventually outmuscled on his own line, resulting in a penalty try.

The tighthead prop was replaced after 45 minutes and, overall, failed to make the same impact as starting loosehead George Bower.

Lomax is an experienced international and facing the Springboks is always a huge challenge, but if the All Blacks are going to compete with South Africa, their scrum has to be firing. It simply was not at the required level here.

Bower makes the list of underperformers for many of the same reasons as Lomax, although he can take slightly more credit for his overall contribution than his tighthead counterpart.

Unfortunately, his scrummaging also fell short of the exceptionally high standard required against the Springboks, which had a significant impact on the All Blacks' performance.

He conceded an early penalty but was heavily involved defensively, putting in plenty of tackles and showing an excellent work rate throughout his time on the field.

The scrum was relatively solid, but like Lomax, he was eventually overpowered on his own line, contributing to the penalty try. He was replaced after 45 minutes.