The Springboks played catch-up rugby for most of their Castle Lager Rugby Championship epic against New Zealand at Emirates Airline Park on Saturday, but came through at the end for the more than 60 000 fans to beat the All Blacks by 31-27 (half-time 11-12) in a match that will be talked about for a long time to come.
New Zealand played a great game of rugby, but could never quite bury the Springboks, who like the true champions they are, kept plugging away and kicked on in the last 15 minutes to overhaul a 10-point deficit and remain undefeated in the Castle Lager Rugby Championship.
Despite making too many unforced errors, the Boks fought non-stop and when the All Blacks started to slow down and eventually conceded a yellow card due to the relentless attack, they struck.
Tries by replacements Kwagga Smith and Grant Williams in the last 10 minutes broke New Zealand’s back. Talking about replacements, the Bomb Squad again came through for Bok coach Rassie Erasmus, who will be the first to admit that the Boks were not at their best at times, especially at lineout time, where too many attacking opportunities were wasted.
New Zealand started best and got their attack going in the opening minutes, with their backs free flowing. Some solid defence kept them at bay though and even created a turnover, but the Boks could not quite stop the momentum nor relieve the pressure.
The visitors punished them for that with more field position dominance and when Aphelele Fassi was binned for a professional foul near his own tryline, New Zealand pounced. They opted for the lineout maul and Codie Taylor was driven over. Damian McKenzie was on song with his conversion and New Zealand were 7-0 after as many minutes.
The Springboks hardly had hands on the ball in the opening 10 minutes, with New Zealand exploiting the space left by Fassi’s absence with clever tactical kicking. They got back into the game slowly but surely with some good recycling on attack. Cheslin Kolbe had a promising dart from broken play and Kurt-Lee Arendse was cruelly denied a try by a wicked bounce from a hack ahead, but the early pressure from New Zealand was gone.
The Boks attacked from a rolling maul and Bongi Mbonambi was worked over to get his team on the score board, although there were suggestions that he lost the ball over the line. Feinberg-Mngomezulu missed the conversion, which kept the visitors in the lead, a good reflection of play 15 minutes in.
Eben Etzebeth came on for Ruan Nortje as a blood replacement after 25 minutes, much to the delight of the crowd, who had another reason to celebrate when Feinberg-Mngomezulu slotted a penalty goal from close to 60m to put the Boks into the lead for the first time, 30 minutes in.
That lead was short-lived though as Caleb Clarke was worked into space three minutes later and he romped in for his team’s second try. McKenzie pulled his conversion wide, but the visitors were good value for a 12-8 lead.
The set pieces were fairly even, but a strong Bok scrum surge from the restart had New Zealand scrambling and then penalised. Feinberg-Mngomezulu kicked an easy three pointer from right in front and the lead was cut to one point.Kenzie.
The Boks had one more lineout attack, but a spilled ball in a ruck robbed them of another score. Nortje returned to the field shortly before the break, but Etzebeth stayed on in place of Ben-Jason Dixon, with Pieter-Steph du Toit moving out to flanker.
New Zealand started the second half best when Jordie Barrett intercepted a midfield pass from Damian de Allende to race home from 40m out. McKenzie converted and suddenly New Zealand’s lead was an ominous 19-11.
Erasmus called on his Bomb Squad immediately and made five replacements at once. That worked a charm as New Zealand twice conceded penalties, with the second giving Feinberg-Mngomezulu a third kick at goal, which he landed but McKenzie cancelled that out immediately with his first penalty goal as NZ led 22-14 with just over 30 minutes to go.
Kurt-Lee Arendse left the field soon after for an HIA and Handre Pollard replaced him. Referee Andrew Brace penalised and warned New Zealand for repeated infringements 48 minutes in and when Feinberg-Mngomezulu kicked his fourth penalty goal the Boks were on the up again and five points from New Zealand.
Erasmus cleared his bench with Smith coming on and then New Zealand scored what seemed a match winner when Clarke went over for his second try, again made look very easy by his inside backs. The Boks misread a midfield play by the All Blacks and that allowed a gaping hole for the wing to run into, untouched.
The conversion was wide from McKenzie, but the visitors were up ten points again with 25 minutes left to play. Kolisi left the field for a HIA as well, with Nortje again bouncing back to action.
The last 15 minutes of the match was always going to be crucial in the final outcome. A Bok maul near the opposing line was pulled down, resulting in a yellow card to replacement prop Ofa Tu’ungafasia and from the resulting lineout drive, Smith crashed over under the poles. The conversion was good and three points kept the Boks away from the lead (27-24) with 10 minutes to play.
With territory key, both sides opted for tactical kicks, but once the Boks went brute force once again, they forced another lineout near the All Blacks’ line. A few hard drives at the line later, Grant Williams got through the smallest of gaps and scored, much to the delight of the sold-out crowd. The conversion was good and with five minutes left, the Boks were up 31-27.
Another ruck penalty against New Zealand, 77 minutes in, gave Feinberg-Mngomezulu a chance to seal the deal, but the kick sailed wide. The travelling team were pinned in their own half though and once the Boks got possession again, they played out time and Williams could kick the ball into touch for a remarkable win.
Scorers:
Springboks 31 (11) – Tries: Bongi Mbonambi, Kwagga Smith, Grant Williams. Conversions: Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu (2). Penalty goals: Feinberg-Mngomezulu (4).
New Zealand 27 (12) – Tries: Codie Taylor, Caleb Clarke (2), Jordie Barrett. Conversions: Damian McKenzie (2). Penalty goal: McKenzie.
SOURCED FROM THE RUGBY SA.
