All Blacks left bruised and battered but top standings
Star flyhalf Carter injured in hard-fought victory over Springboks, who had Du Plessis sent off
Two tries from captain Kieran Read helped New Zealand grab the lead in the Rugby Championship yesterday after a 29-15 victory over South Africa, who had Bismarck du Plessis sent off for two contentious yellow cards.
The bonus-point victory came courtesy of tries from Read, Brodie Retallick and Sam Cane but at the cost of a collarbone injury to flyhalf Daniel Carter in a crunching tackle from hooker Du Plessis.
New Zealand coach Steve Hansen said Carter could be out for between four and six weeks.
Du Plessis was sin-binned for the tackle then received a second yellow in the first minute of the second half for leading with his elbow into the throat of Liam Messam.
Neither Hansen nor his counterpart Heyneke Meyer were prepared to discuss the yellow cards in detail, with Read and Ma'a Nonu also sin-binned in the final 10 minutes, though Hansen said anyone leading with their elbow was at risk of a red card.
The All Blacks are a tough team to play when you have 15 on the field so when you have 14 it’s a tough ask
"In an intense battle like that, you're going to get moments and a referee has to make decisions in those moments," Hansen said. "Perhaps Bismarck may have been unlucky on Dan's yellow card but he probably got the other ones right.