Why the All Blacks' fly half debate is FINISHED following win over Springboks

By Riley Sella

A brace from Will Jordan and tries from Josh Moorby, Fabian Holland and Luke Jacobson saw New Zealand take a 1-0 series lead in Rugby's Greatest Rivalry.

The All Blacks were under the pump from the very start, but were able to contest both the Springboks' physical play and the electric Ellis Park crowd. The first half took fans back to the World Cup final, with South Africa building their score through penalty kicks by Cheslin Kolbe and a try from Andre Esterhuizen.

As the half went on, the Springboks slowly took control of the game and the All Blacks struggled to keep up. Their defence was shaky, discipline was an issue and, despite having a heavier pack, they were being completely dominated in the scrums. However, they went into half-time only one point behind.

Whatever was said in the dressing room at half-time worked, as the All Blacks completely turned it around and dominated the second half, while the Springboks completely fell apart with subpar substitutions and a collapse in discipline. A flurry of tries and Springboks yellow cards capped off what was a fantastic performance from Rennie's men.

The All Blacks go again against the Lions on Tuesday.

TRIES: 5 (Jordan 8', 74', Moorby 22', Holland 47', Jacobson 58')

CONVERSIONS: 4 (Love 23', 48', 59', 75')

PENALTIES: 0

DROP GOALS: 0

YELLOW CARDS: 0

RED CARDS: 0

TRIES: 1 (Esterhuizen 13')

CONVERSIONS: 1 (Kolbe 14')

PENALTIES: 3 (Kolbe 7', 20', 46')

DROP GOALS: 0

YELLOW CARDS: 2 (van Staden 68', Reinach 70')

RED CARDS: 0

The debate over who will wear the number 10 jersey for the All Blacks may be nearing its conclusion, with Ruben Love starting and playing the full 80 minutes in the first test.

Love had an excellent game, converting four of five tries and proving a dangerous focal point for the All Blacks' quick attack. His recent form has been well documented, but after today's performance and his showing against the Sharks, it seems Dave Rennie is putting his full trust in Love to be the starting number 10 for the full tour.

On the flip side, no other specialist number 10 was named in the matchday squad, with Beauden Barrett also not named as the backup fullback. His recent performances may not have been up to standard, but his experience is still incredibly valuable and he can still put in an exceptional shift on his day.

The Lions game will be telling of Rennie's plans for the backup number 10, but if Barrett, Richie Mo'unga or Josh Jacomb wants to make it into the squad for the second Test, they need to perform exceptionally well.

After a shaky first half, it looked like the Springboks would take over in the second half and run away with the victory. However, the opposite happened and the All Blacks took control straight away. Despite a 46th-minute penalty for the Springboks which took the score to 16-12, it was all the All Blacks' way for the remaining 35 minutes.

Only a minute later, Fabian Holland blocked a box kick from Grant Williams and scored directly from it. That kickstarted the momentum, which never faltered.

One of the main reasons for this was the improvement in discipline. After conceding many penalties and turnovers in the first half, the All Blacks calmed down and controlled the pace of their attack, held strong on defence and forced many turnovers and penalties.

The scrum performances also improved drastically, with New Zealand no longer being dominated or collapsing as seen multiple times in the first half.

The All Blacks' discipline has been exceptional for much of this tour. After a rough start in their opening game against the Stormers, Dave Rennie's men have been near perfect. The first half of the first Test was shaky, and the All Blacks ended the game conceding 14 penalties, but won 14 turnovers while conceding 13. If the All Blacks keep up this great run of form on the discipline side, they should be heavy favourites to win Rugby's Greatest Rivalry.

While the All Blacks' discipline improved after half-time, the Springboks completely fell apart. What was a promising first-half performance was overshadowed by turnovers, conceded penalties and poor discipline, which saw two yellow cards in the final 12 minutes.

Cheslin Kolbe scored from a penalty kick in the 46th minute, taking the score to 16-12. Those were the final points the Springboks scored all game. While the All Blacks' replacements continued to build on the momentum, Rassie Erasmus' substitutes could not deliver for the Springboks.

South Africa lost 23 turnovers compared to the All Blacks' 13, conceded 10 penalties and received two yellow cards in the 68th and 70th minutes, including one for a deliberate knock-on. Rassie Erasmus will have a lot to focus on for the second Test in one week.

Will Jordan was one of the biggest talking points coming into the game, with many unsure whether he would be fit in time for this first Test.

Jordan was recovering from a back injury and had not featured in any games of this tour as he looked to remain fit. However, he was cleared to play and started at right wing, taking full advantage and scoring a brace to bring up his 52nd and 53rd tries for the All Blacks after recently breaking the record for most tries for New Zealand.

Being one of the key players for this team, his return will calm the nerves of many fans. He likely will not feature against the Lions in three days as the All Blacks look to retain his fitness for the second Test.

Around the midway point of the second half, Jordan looked slightly uncomfortable with his hand on his back, but ultimately played on and completed the full 80 minutes.

Damian McKenzie also returned to the starting lineup after getting injured against the Sharks, which is another sigh of relief for fans and the coaching staff. He had a rather quiet game, nearly getting an assist but seeing his pass blocked. Both are expected to continue recovering and should feature in the second Test.

Injuries have unfortunately been a dark cloud overshadowing the All Blacks on this tour so far.

Adding to the injuries from the three tour games, it was announced that Anton Segner had picked up an injury in training and would be omitted from the squad entirely for the first Test. The man of the match against the Bulls was one of the star players who many believed would play important minutes in any of the four Tests, but now fans will have to wait for updates on whether he may feature at all for the remainder of this tour.

To add to the mounting injury list, Ethan de Groot and Josh Lord were both forced off due to concussion protocol in the 34th minute after colliding with each other in a tackle. Both are expected to recover fairly quickly and should be fit for the second Test. However, it piles on to the growing number of concerns for Dave Rennie as four games are still yet to be played.

Richie Mo'unga has already been called in as an injury replacement, having not played for the All Blacks in three years, and many players back home should be watching out for a potential emergency call-up into the squad.