It's becoming increasingly hard to beat the All Blacks.
South Africa threw the kitchen sink at them last night, were brilliant at the breakdown, mixed their stoicism with adventure and were dominant on the touchline - and they still lost.
It's tempting to worry about how often the All Blacks have scraped home this year, tempting to believe they are in danger of being toppled because they have been defending their line for dear life deep into the game.
But the alternative is to see their bravery and character, to be amazed at their depths of mental reserves and physical resilience.
Games between the All Blacks and South Africa are brutal affairs.
The exchanges are fierce, the hits come from all directions and there is little respite for 80 minutes.
But when the final whistle has blown and the blood has dried, the teams are able to chat over a beer, which shows the respect they have for each other.
What is perhaps rugby's greatest rivalry has been punctuated by absorbing matches.
Saturday night's 14-10 victory to the All Blacks in Wellington was South African captain Jean de Villiers' 100th test match, while wing Bryan Habana marked his century a week before when the Springboks met the Wallabies across the Tasman.
In the post-match formalities at Westpac Stadium, All Black captain Richie McCaw made a presentation to de Villiers and Habana to acknowledge them reaching the 100 club.
McCaw has played 131 tests - 23 against South Africa - and said the rivalry between New Zealand and South Africa was something special.
"One of the great things about rugby is you go at each other for 80 minutes and walk off and shake hands and have a beer," McCaw said. "The thing I've always found with the Springbok boys especially is their outlook on rugby and life in general is very similar to the way we are here in New Zealand and I think we've got a lot in common.
"I just know that to play 100 tests for your country is one hell of an effort. It takes a lot of dedication and you've got to be a top man to fit in to a team for that long."
Watch: All Blacks: 'true test match'
VideoAll Blacks second-five Ma'a Nonu suffered a broken arm in the first half of Saturday's test match, which kept him from playing the second spell.
But Nonu still managed to leave his playing jersey in the South African changing room for his opposite number de Villiers to keep as a memento before he left Westpac Stadium to be examined at hospital.
"I have to compliment both teams for firstly the way that I think we play the game," de Villiers said. "And, secondly, the way we respect each other after the game as well.
"We make it as tough as possible on the field and there'll be some shots away from the camera in the rucks and there'll be hard tackles and there'll be a lot of words said on the field. But as soon as we walk off the field you can really just see that respect and camaraderie if you want to call it that."
The stage is set for the teams to do it all again at Ellis Park in Johannesburg on October 5.
- APNZ
