A picture of misery, body and mind aching, the South African players sought the sanctuary of the dressing-rooms at Carisbrook after this Tri-Nations defeat on Saturday but it is unlikely that Springbok coach Nick Mallett offered them much succour.
The stigma of a record defeat by New Zealand was compounded by a very serious knee injury to flanker Corne Krige - suspected torn cruciate and lateral ligaments which could put the flanker on the sidelines for 18 months.
Carisbrook is affectionately known as the House of Pain, a sobriquet coined by current St Mary's College coach Brent Pope during his Otago days. South Africa have lost all four previous Tests staged here and New Zealand have lost only two Test matches at the venue in their long history.
The All Blacks were surprisingly error prone in the first 55 minutes, guilty of basic handling errors and over elaboration. When they finally simplified patterns, performance levels soared and they produced some scintillating rugby. A tenuous 6-0 advantage quickly became a 28-point rout as the visitors simply crumbled.
South Africa were afforded a couple of glaring scoring opportunities when the match was competitive and were unfortunate to have a try by hooker Naka Drotske disallowed one minute into the second half. Marshall ruled that Gary Teichmann's pass had gone forward, television confirmed that it had glanced off the head of an All Black tackler.
Mallett's ire though was not for the opportunities that slipped away but several dreadful performances by individuals. Young half-backs David Von Hoesslin and Gaffie du Toit bore the brunt of his displeasure. The Springbok coach admitted: "We were very poor at half-back. We didn't exert any control and wasted a great deal of hard won possession.
"They are supposed to be your generals on the pitch but we lacked direction." The absence of Joost Van Der Westhuizen and Henry Honiball more so than any of the other first choice players, injured or unavailable, was keenly felt.
Krige's early departure, followed by Mark Andrews (hip) at half-time were further setbacks.
In the 57th minute the All Blacks scrum-half Justin Marshall broke from a ruck, taking play into the South African 22. The ball was quickly recycled and Andrew Mehrtens' perfectly weighted chip allowed Christian Cullen to race under the posts. The out-half's conversion, allied to two first-half penalties, gave New Zealand the breathing space and confidence required to cut loose.
Coach John Hart explained his side's improved second half performance: "At half-time we spoke about the need to keep things simple, there were times when we were trying too many marginal passes. We needed better execution and the players responded."
Jonah Lomu, introduced for the ineffective Tana Umaga on 61 minutes, presented a frightening sight, 18 st of pure muscle. His first task was to chase a long punt by Mehrtens. The speed with which he covered the 50 metres sent a buzz of expectation through the crowd.
When he finally received possession some minutes later, he broke four tackles inside the Springbok 22 before five South African players combined to drag him into touch inches short of the try line.
This victory though was not about Lomu. Taine Randell led by example, second row Norm Maxwell was thunderous in his tackling and Josh Kronfeld outstanding in every facet at open-side.
By the end the All Blacks were irresistible, adding further tries from Jeff Wilson and Marshall.
Hart, savouring the triumph, said: "I could not in my wildest dreams have envisaged that we would win by 28 points. Obviously they don't have their full side but there were enough things in the second half to suggest that we are progressing nicely."
Mallett's plight is less edifying. South Africa make the short journey to face Australia next Saturday, with the same bunch of players. "I think it is fair to say that we have the toughest schedule of any of the teams in the TriNations. New Zealand has breaks between matches but I am not looking for excuses. We were beaten by a better side and we must learn and redress the problems."
Captain Gary Teichmann refused to be despondent: "The players are very disappointed but we know that we are a better side than we showed out there. We responded very positively to the defeat by Wales and trained well. We have got to translate that now onto the pitch."
Crushing defeats of Western Samoa, France and now South Africa, the future seems black . . . All Black.
Scoring sequence: 14 mins: Mehrtens penalty, 3-0; 21: Mehrtens penalty, 6-0. Half-time: 6-0. 57: Cullen try, Mehrtens conversion, 13-0; 60: Mehrtens penalty, 16-0; 71: Wilson try, 21-0; 76: Marshall try, Brown conversion, 28-0.
New Zealand: J Wilson; C Cullen, A Ieremia, D Gibson, T Umaga; A Mehrtens, J Marshall; C Hoeft, A Oliver, K Meeuws; N Maxwell, R Brooke; A Blowers, T Randell (Capt), J Kronfeld. Replacements: R Willis for Brooke 61 mins; J Lomu for Umaga 61 mins; D Mika for Blowers 74 mins; T Brown for Mehrtens 74 mins; B Kelleher for Gibson.
South Africa: Mulder, P Muller, P Rossouw; G du Toit, D Von Hoesslin; O du Randt, N Drotske, C Visage; K Otto, M Andrews; C Krige, G Teichmann (capt), A Venter. Replacements: A Vos for Krige 12 mins; S Boome for Andrews half-time; O Le Roux for du Randt 53 mins; R Fleck for Muller 55 mins; B Van Straaten for Montgomery 65 mins; W Meyer for Visage 76 mins.
Referee: P Marshall (Australia).
