Coach Steve Hansen praised his players, the youthful and the experienced, after the All Blacks downed South Africa 29-15 to go top of the Rugby Championship.

The physical and incident-packed clash in Auckland included the dismissal of Springboks hooker Bismarck du Plessis early in the second half after his second yellow card.

The All Blacks themselves finished with 13 men after skipper Kieran Read, who scored two of their tries, and inside centre Ma’a Nonu were sin-binned in the last eight minutes.

“It was a really intense Test match, one that had a bit of everything and I’m very proud of how we came through it,” Hansen said.

“In games like tonight, you need your big players to stand up and they did, including the guy beside me [Read].”

But Hansen also highlighted the performances of the younger brigade and the likes of openside flanker Sam Cane, lock Brodie Retallick and replacement five-eighth Beauden Barrett.

Of the yellow cards, Hansen said he had no complaints, adding that referees had to make decisions in the moment.

However, he did feel du Plessis was unlucky to get his first after 15 minutes, even if five-eighth Dan Carter came out of the incident with a shoulder injury.

Hansen said Carter was likely to be out for four-to-six weeks, which would rule him out of the rest of the tournament.

In what looked like a harsh decision, Du Plessis was ruled to have made a no-arms and high tackle.

Springboks coach Heyneke Meyer declined to comment on the officiating, saying his side had no excuses.

“I thought the better team won on the day,” he said.

“That’s why they’re the world champions.”

However, Meyer did say being down to 14 for most of the match affected not only their defence, but also their scrummaging and drives from the lineout.

New Zealand, the defending champions, scored four tries to two in going above South Africa on the table.

The result meant the All Blacks maintained their record of not having lost at Eden Park since 1994, and not against the Springboks at the ground since 1937.

They made a flying start in front of a sell-out 48,000 crowd, with Read, taking over the captaincy from the injured Richie McCaw, scoring after three minutes from a lineout.

Then, with South Africa a man down, Barrett, on for Carter, made a big break that led to Retallick’s first Test try.

The Springboks replied through du Plessis on his return from his first yellow card, after they backed their attacking maul.

Down 14-3, they turned down a handy penalty attempt and the decision to go for the lineout paid dividends as they drove the hooker over.

But when du Plessis went off for good for a fend with his elbow at the neck of flanker Liam Messam, the All Blacks took almost immediate advantage with Read scoring his second try after an attacking scrum.

The All Blacks’ bonus point try came 13 minutes from time when Cane forced his way over.

Read was then carded for interfering with a player in the air, and Nonu for a late tackle.

South Africa ended up having the last word, replacement back Pat Lambie dotting down with six minutes to go.