The All Blacks commenced their first extensive tour of South Africa in three decades with a 38-21 triumph over the Stormers, a scoreline that somewhat exaggerated the dominance of the New Zealand team, which was expected to secure a more decisive win. A makeshift Stormers side, still in pre-season mode, managed to level the score twice, with the match tied at 14-14 until 13 minutes remained.
After the Stormers lost their second scrum-half and had no reserve backs left, New Zealand capitalized on the weakened backline, scoring three tries in the final eight minutes. However, the performance was marred by ill-discipline, with three yellow cards issued, and struggles in the set-piece.
Despite these challenges, the All Blacks emerged victorious, scoring six tries to the Stormers' three, in front of a crowd of 47,130. On a positive note, the All Blacks appeared to have avoided any significant injuries, with seven players making their first appearance in the black jersey this year and two more making their debuts off the bench: prop Siale Lauaki and inside back Josh Jacomb. The most impressive performances came from Stormers fly-half Yaqeen Ahmed, who made a confident first-class debut at the age of 20, and flanker Deon Fourie, who will turn 40 next month.
According to New Zealand head coach Dave Rennie, "It was a good introduction for us to South African rugby. We started very well, and it seemed like the team with the ball was being rewarded by the referee.
When we had the ball, we were really dangerous. We knew they would bring line speed in defense.
We just weren't quite clinical enough to expose them. They came at us with their set-piece, and we need to be better in those areas.
We expected a lot of aerial attacks, and we probably didn't handle that as well as we could have." The upcoming matches are as follows: Friday, August 7: Stormers 21-38 New Zealand, Cape Town Tuesday, August 11: Sharks vs New Zealand, Durban (6pm BST) Saturday, August 15: Bulls vs New Zealand, Pretoria (6pm BST) Saturday, August 22: South Africa vs New Zealand (FIRST TEST), Ellis Park Stadium, Johannesburg (4.10pm BST) Tuesday, August 25: Lions vs New Zealand, Johannesburg (6pm BST) Saturday, August 29: South Africa vs New Zealand (SECOND TEST), Cape Town (4.10pm BST) Saturday, September 5: South Africa vs New Zealand (THIRD TEST), FNB Stadium, Johannesburg (4.10pm BST) Saturday, September 12: South Africa vs New Zealand (FOURTH TEST), M&T Bank Stadium, Baltimore USA (10pm BST) Watch New Zealand's Tour of South Africa live on Sky Sports