So what the heck happened at Ellis Park? The first Test of the four-match Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry series would have left a lot of people feeling really confused, with the Springboks dominating the areas of the game that are considered the non-negotiable platforms for success.They bossed possession and won the collisions from the outset, and their scrum at times looked set to scrum the All Black unit into complete submission. Indeed, when the home team had three consecutive scrum penalties called under the New Zealand posts in the second half, the memory bank threw up reminders of Aviva Stadium in Dublin last November.All Black coach Dave Rennie may have won the off-field war during the buildup to the game, the one geared towards influencing the referees. For there was a lot of cynical stuff the Kiwis got away with, and referee Matt Carley should arguably have reached into the pocket to yellow card an All Black before the Boks tried the fateful fourth scrum, where they conceded the penalty that enabled New Zealand to relieve the unrelenting pressure that had been building.There was one possible reason why the Boks weren’t able to press home their physical and territorial advantage on the day — street smarts. There was a long hold-up before that scrum was set while Eben Etzebeth went to the Bok support staff ostensibly to have his shoelaces tied. Surely when you have an opposing scrum under such pressure, you should try and get the next scrum in as quickly as possible before the opposing unit has time to regroup.The match officials also looked frustrated with Etzebeth, and given the way refereeing minds seem to work, it wasn’t completely surprising that the All Blacks were awarded that penalty.It was almost as if the referee were saying, “Enough of this”.The Boks, given they were behind by three points and that their scrum dominance was so complete at that point, should maybe have kicked the penalty that would have brought the scores level at 19-all. Instead, they found themselves 26-16 down with a mountain to climb, a mountain which became steeper when Carley, who’d been resistant to giving yellow cards before that, showed two in quick succession to the Boks. That was game, set and match.In truth there were several turning points in the game, but in the end what most cost the Boks against a clinical All Black team was their failure to take their chances.There was a level of disconnect in the Bok attacking game that was costly, and their visits to the All Black 22 didn’t bring the customary reward. As much as that was down to the Kiwi resilience, it was also down to the rotation of selection that is so necessary if the Boks are to have the required experience for next year’s World Cup challenge yet is risky when it comes to the here and now of the game that is in immediate focus.In truth there were several turning points in the game, but in the end what most cost the Boks against a clinical All Black team was their failure to take their chances.Bok coach Rassie Erasmus was lauded for risking defeat by sticking to his experimentation when Scotland came back late in the game at Loftus last month, but there was also inherent risk in fielding a team against the All Blacks that had not played together since July 4 against England. That would account for the clunkiness of the Bok attack, and it is something that needs fixing before Saturday’s second Test in Cape Town.Erasmus finds himself in a Catch-22 — the plan was to change up the team for Cape Town to keep the players who played at Ellis Park fresh for the third Test at Soccer City, but if the Boks want to get the cohesion that was missing in Joburg it might be a better idea to stick with the same combinations and give them a chance to bed in.There isn’t too much that requires fixing if you want to turn a disappointing loss into an emphatic victory. At the same time, Erasmus will remember last year, when it was almost complete reinvention that saw the Boks turn a narrow loss at Eden Park into a record 43-10 win the following week.