The All Blacks put themselves in pole position for the TriNations title with a second bonus point victory over the Springboks beating them by 31 points to 17.
The All Blacks lead the TriNations with 10 points and 34 points differential and could not have started the TriNations better.
The Springboks have left themselves a mountain to climb as they have failed to score any points on the table after two matches and need to make up the 34 points differential.
Despite suffering their second loss with a bonus point to the opposition the Springboks will take heart that they did take a step up from last week. The All Blacks however also took a big step up.
The Springboks who were outscored by four tries to two suffered a similar fate as they did last week when in the fourth minute they lost Danie Rossouw to the sin bin for a kick on Richie McCaw who was on the ground.
While Rossouw was in the bin the All Blacks used the numbers to their advantage and scored two tries.
Danie Rossouw did however make ammends for his indiscretion by scoring a try just before half time which brought the half time to 13-7 to the All Blacks.
A week ago in Auckland in pristine conditions, the All Blacks won 32-12 but were just as dominant in Saturday's blustery, wet conditions in Wellington with their high-paced, accurate, running rugby.
The margin could have been higher had the usually reliable Dan Carter not had an off-night with the boot, missing three conversions and three penalties before he was replaced by Piri Weepu as kicker.
In two Tests against the reigning World and Tri-Nations champions the All Blacks have scored eight tries and conceded only two to firmly lay to rest their nightmare of last year's 0-3 whitewash by the Springboks.
It was the All Blacks ability to recycle the ball and counter-attack, even when deep on defence that the Springboks found hardest to handle.
After the first Test hammering, South African captain John Smit repeatedly said his side had faith in their traditional forward power game and did not need to match the All Blacks free-flow style.
But for the second week they found their forwards could not dominate the All Blacks eight and their kicking game only served to feed possession to an attacking machine, although they tried to rectify this in the second half.
Although Victor Matfield regained his lineout dominance, the Springboks again struggled in the scrums while All Blacks loose forwards Richie McCaw and Kieran Read controlled broken play.
The All Blacks opening try followed Carter's first missed penalty. Read gathered in the Springboks restart to ignite a counter-attack which resulted in Ma'a Nonu scoring in the right-hand corner.
Play had no sooner restarted when Weepu, who repeatedly found inviting holes around the Springboks ruck, cut through a gap deep in All Blacks territory to send Mils Muliaina on a 40 metre run to the line.
Rossouw returned to the field to find the Springboks down 10 points and already feeling the impact of the All Blacks incessant running game.
Carter's one successful penalty in the first half stretched the All Blacks lead to 13-0 before Rossouw made partial amends for his indiscretion, charging from deep behind a ruck to crash over the line.
Morne Steyn added the extra points and the Springboks had reduced the deficit to 7-13 at half-time.
It was evident from the resumption of play the Springboks had accepted that running rugby had advantages as they showed a willingness to spin the ball.
They took play up to the All Blacks line and from a penalty Steyn cut the gap to 10-13.
This drew an immediate response with Rene Ranger, in his first Test start, scoring a fantastic try in the corner whilst being tackled in the air.
After Carter missed the conversion Weepu took over the kicking and landed a 40 metre penalty to put the All Blacks up 21-10 with 10 minutes gone in the second half.
Israel Dagg in his first touch of the ball after coming on as a replacement beat four to score while Carter resumed the kicking duties to land the conversion and another penalty.
With time running out Schalk Burger scored the Springboks second try with Steyn landing the conversion.
The tournament will get no easier for the Springboks next week as they face the Wallabies in Australia next weekend while the All Blacks get the weekend off.
Final Score New Zealand 31 South Africa 17
Scorers
New Zealand
Tries - M, Nonu, M. Muliaina, R Ranger, I Dagg
Pen - D Carter 2, P Weepu
Con - D Carter
Drop -
Cards -
South Africa
Tries - D Rossouw, S Burger
Pen - M Steyn
Con - M Steyn 2
Drop -
Cards - Danie Rossouw 4th min yellow
Referee: Alain Rolland (IRL)
Teams (15-1)
New Zealand: Mils Muliaina, Cory Jane, Conrad Smith, Ma'a Nonu, Rene Ranger, Daniel Carter, Piri Weepu, Kieran Read, Richie McCaw (captain), Jerome Kaino, Tom Donnelly, Brad Thorn, Owen Franks, Keven Mealamu, Tony Woodcock.
Reserves: Corey Flynn, Ben Franks, Sam Whitelock, Liam Messam, Jimmy Cowan, Aaron Cruden, Israel Dagg.
South Africa: Zane Kirchner, Jean de Villiers, Jaque Fourie, Wynand Oliver, Bryan Habana, Morne Steyn, Ricky Januarie, Pierre Spies, Francois Louw, Schalk Burger, Victor Matfield, Danie Rossouw, CJ van der Linde, John Smit (captain), Gurthro Steenkamp.
Reserves: Chiliboy Ralepelle, BJ Botha, Andries Bekker, Ryan Kankowski, Ruan Pienaar, Butch James, Gio Aplon.
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