Boks edge All Blacks in thriller
Brad Morgan
8 August 2005
Newlands was witness to a cracking Tri-Nations clash on Saturday as the Springboks and the All Blacks did battle in a contest that did credit to the long and famous history the two teams share. After a tense, edge-of-the-seat confrontation it was South Africa who emerged 22-16 winners.
South Africa could have only been thrilled with their start as they took a useful early lead.
In the second minute, Percy Montgomery put the Boks ahead with a nicely taken penalty from some distance out after the All Blacks had strayed into an offside position at a ruck.
Two minutes later lock Victor Matfield crushed Kiwi scrumhalf Byron Kelleher with a bone-jarring tackle that left the tough number nine shaken and groggy. He was to last only another seven minutes before being replaced by Piri Weepu.
Powerful defence
Matfield's tackle, while admittedly slightly late, was not malicious - and was a precursor to the fare the
Springboks dished up on the day. Ultimately, it was the South Africans' powerful defence that won the contest.
After eight minutes, Matfield was instrumental in South Africa adding more points. He poached an All Black throw-in and, after some sustained pressure from the Boks, flyhalf Andre Pretorius slotted a drop goal to give SA a 6-0 advantage.
A minute later it got even better for South Africa. The All Blacks had made good ground deep into Springbok territory, with Rico Gear slicing through the SA backline nicely before passing back inside to Kelleher.
Anticipation
Jean de Villiers, though, anticipated the scrumhalf's next move and as Kelleher passed back he intercepted the ball and raced three-quarters of the field to score the opening try of the contest. Montgomery knocked over the conversion and, unbelievably, the Springboks led 13-0 after only 11 minutes.
After a quarter of an hour New Zealand got on the board when Daniel
Carter slotted a penalty after the South African defenders had been trapped offsides.
In the 22nd minute the Kiwis were back on the board after a well worked try. First they forced the Springboks deep into the left-hand corner with a strong attack. Then, when the ball went right, a beautiful long pass from Jerry Collins found Gear in plenty of space on the right wing and he sprinted over for a try.
Carter, once again, was spot on with his kick and South Africa's comfortable-looking early lead had been whittled down to just three points at 13-10.
Questions
Five minutes later the Newlands crowd must have started questions about the Boks' great start when the All Blacks levelled the score through another penalty by Carter, after South Africa were again spotted offsides by the referee Andrew Cole. Had the home side merely taken an opportunistic lead? Had the New Zealanders weathered the storm and now taken charge of the contest?
The
answer proved to be no. But it wasn't clear.
Four minutes before the break SA had the opportunity to take the lead once more, but when Montgomery lined the ball up it twice fell over. Captain John Smit came over to hold it, but with time ticking by South Africa's record points' scorer missed his hurried shot at the posts.
A minute before the halftime hooter, however, the All Blacks were the ones on the receiving end of an offside call by referee Cole, and this time Montgomery's kick was straight and true, giving South Africa a 16-13 advantage midway through the game.
Extended their lead
Early in the second half, Smit and company extended their lead when the All Blacks attempted a short 22-metre drop out. The Springboks thwarted the attempt to regain possession by the men in black, and when Richie McCaw was penalised for holding onto the ball on the ground Montgomery lined up another shot at goal. His successful kick made it 19-13 in
favour of the home team.
Six minutes later he was again on target with his fifth successful kick in six attempts after the All Blacks were blown up for collapsing the scrum. That made it 22-13 to South Africa.
With five minutes to play Carter stuck over another penalty to make the score 22-16 and give the All Blacks a chance of winning the game with a converted try.
However, as it had done all afternoon, the South African defence stood firm and when the final whistle sounded the SA team leaped in the air in celebration, joined by a crowd who had been treated to a superb game of rugby.
Noteworthy performances
A number of things stood out in the game:
First and foremost, South Africa's defence was outstanding and punishing. It forced numerous turnovers with huge hits, many of them coming just when they were most needed.
Secondly, the Boks' kicking game was excellent. Pretorius at flyhalf and Montgomery at fullback made
their kicks count, which made it difficult for the New Zealanders to launch attacks from close in.
Thirdly, the work of locks Bakkies Botha and Victor Matfield, especially in the lineouts, was fantastic. The lineouts were an area in which the All Blacks destroyed the British Lions, but South Africa enjoyed the upper hand at Newlands and succeeded in stealing a number of New Zealand throw-ins.
And finally, the tremendous work put in by the South African loose trio. They hunted as one, putting in powerful tackle after tackle, turning ball over and outplaying their opposite numbers.
Schalk Burger, who was dropped for the Tri-Nations test against Australia because of disciplinary problems, produced a performance of the highest quality with a motor that never seems to tire. Joe van Niekerk played his best game of the year, and Juan Smith proved a great complement to his fellow loose-forwards.
Next up for the Boks is a well-deserved rest and then it's off to Perth to
face Australia, where victory could win SA the Tri-Nations title for the second year in succession.
They'll go into that contest with the knowledge that their 22-16 defeat of New Zealand, who are ranked number one in the world, has lifted them above the Wallabies to number two.
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