The All Blacks came back firing in the second half after a poor opening 40 minutes, but in the end it wasn't enough to prevent a 32-29 defeat and deny South Africa the Tri-Nations title.

The All Blacks once again struggled to deal with the Bok bombardment of high balls, and often let themselves down with errors. To their credit, they produced a fightback which got them tantalizingly close to victory but as has been the case for the entire Tri-Nations campaign, their skill levels were not up to the standards of All Blacks teams of the past.

They will look to the second half performance of Dan Carter as a major positive, and one gets the feeling with a few tweaks in personnel and tactics they could soon be back to their destructive best.

Tim Human rates the All Black players?

15 Mils Muliaina:
Given very limited space to manoeuvre, he made very limited impact. 6/10

14 Joe Rokocoko:
Made mistakes under huge pressure with the high ball, but dangerous when he got a bit of space to run in. 5.5/10

13 Ma'a Nonu:
He broke the line on occasion, but he dropped the ball every time he made some ground. Strong, but his skills let him down. 5.5/10

12 Stephen Donald:
Poor kicking, poor passing. A liability in truth. 4/10

11 Sitiveni Sivivatu:
Some slick hands in sweeping passing movements in the second half. Like Rokocoko, he struggled under the high ball. 6/10

10 Dan Carter:
His kicking was faultless and he was at his masterful best in the last 30 minutes, but some of his decision-making earlier on cost his team. 7/10

9 Jimmy Cowan:
His general play was decent, but in his primary role - passing the ball ? he was erratic. 6/10

8 Kieran Read:
He was the All Blacks best player in the early exchanges with some outstanding work at the breakdown. His ridiculous late charge on Habana cost his team, and his rating, dearly. 6/10

7 Richie McCaw (captain):
The breakdown was dominated by New Zealand in the second half which was due in the most part to McCaw's influence. One glaring handling error dealt a big psychological blow to his charges though. 7/10

6 Jerome Kaino:
Fought for everything around the fringes and tackled his heart out. 7/10

5 Isaac Ross:
Good at the restart, but not as good at the lineout. 6/10

4 Brad Thorn:
Smashed twice in the tackle and struggled as the first jumper. 5/10

3 Owen Franks:
The scrums were erratic, but he put as much pressure on the Beast as the Beast did on him. 7/10

2 Andrew Hore:
A woeful display to add to a woeful campaign for Hore. Surely de Malmanche couldn't do much worse? 4/10

1 Tony Woodcock:
Strong in the loose, but for all his good scrumming, the one in which Smit nailed him was the most important. 6.5/10

Replacements:

16 Aled de Malmanche:
Not enough time to be rated

17 John Afoa: (On for Franks in last half hour)
Decent showing in general play and at the set-piece. 6/10

18 Adam Thomson:(On in the closing minutes)
Not enough time to be rated

19 Rodney So'oialo:
Not enough time to be rated

20 Brendon Leonard:
Not enough time to be rated

21 Isaia Toeava: (On for Donald on 50 minutes)
A great impact off the bench. He was slick, incisive and set-up a try beautifully. 7.5/10

22 Cory Jane: (On for Sivivatu near the end)
Not enough time to be rated

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