HAVING established themselves as No2 in the world, the Springboks now have to bridge the gap to the all-conquering All Blacks.

Sure, the denouement delivered by the All Blacks at Ellis Park brought into sharp focus the Boks' need to execute one-on-one marking with greater precision and command a more assured presence chasing and receiving kick-ins. It also showed a dearth in depth at tighthead, lock and among the halfbacks.

But some of the team's traditional strengths require fine-tuning.

For former flyhalf and captain Naas Botha, the lack of authority in the Springboks' kicking game has left them exposed.

"Surely when you talk about kicking tactically it has to have a distinct purpose.

"It must be aimed at applying pressure on the opposition, but what we are seeing is completely the opposite," he said.

Coach Heyneke Meyer pointed to the Springboks' lack of application in that area in the build-up to last weekend's Test. He gushed at the All Blacks' ability to regain possession almost 80% of the time when they've gone the aerial route, while lamenting his team's five regains out of 20 before last weekend's match.

Bryan Habana also highlighted the All Blacks' reliance on the boot, suggesting that out of the 124 chances they had to run out of their own half in the Rugby Championships, they did so just five times.

"To me our kicking lacks purpose," Botha said. "Somebody needs to explain to me why you would just kick straight at Israel Dagg.

"People rave about how much longer the ball is in play these days, but how much play occurs when teams just kick the ball at each other? I don't think enough attention is being paid to outmanoeuvring opponents."

There was a time when the Boks were the high priests of the high ball. Their success in New Zealand in 2008 and 2009 was in large part thanks to a kick and retrieve game masterfully orchestrated by, among others, Fourie du Preez.

Back then the All Blacks routinely lost possession, but they have well and truly kicked the habit.