Fifty at Loftus: All Blacks finish the build-up in style, 50-19

The All Blacks saved their best for last. In the final tune-up before the test series against the world champion Springboks, they dispatched the Bulls 50-19 at a heaving Loftus Versfeld, and for an hour it was close to complete.

New Zealand were 24-0 up at halftime and never let the Bulls back into it, running in a haul of tries built on doubles to wingers Josh Moorby and Leroy Carter and captain Codie Taylor, with Rieko Ioane and Wallace Sititi also crossing. The Bulls found some pride late through Ruan Vermaak, Stravino Jacobs and Marcell Coetzee, but the result was long settled.

There was plenty to admire. Flanker Anton Segner was busy all afternoon, Ioane looked sharp in midfield, and props Tyrel Lomax and Xavier Numia gave the scrum a real platform against a proud Bulls pack.

Skipper Taylor kept his feet on the ground afterwards. Three tour games banked and some South African footy under the belt, he said, but he knows the step up is coming. The Springboks, he noted, will "lift the tempo and physicality," and that, he said, is what test match footy is all about.

That is the honest read here. Fifty points at Loftus is a lovely way to sign off the provincial leg, but the tourists know the tests are a different animal. Three from three on tour, the combinations firming, and the big stuff about to start.

Bring on the Boks.