Tri-Nations - Springboks deny All Blacks in thriller

Eurosport - Sun, 13 Jul 08:25:00 2008

South Africa ended a 10-year wait for a win in New Zealand with a 30-28 victory over the All Blacks in their Tri-nations Test.

2008 Tri-Nations South Africa Ricky Januarie - 0

Scrumhalf Enrico Januarie scored the winning try with four minutes remaining after the Springboks had been reduced to 14 men by captain Victor Matfield's yellow card.

Matfield had been sin binned three minutes earlier for a high tackle and New Zealand flyhalf Dan Carter kicked his sixth penalty to give the All Blacks a 28-23 lead.

However, the world champions showed tremendous willpower to fight their way back and register their first win in Dunedin at their eighth attempt and their first in New Zealand since a 13-3 triumph in Wellington in 1998.

In a fiercely contested match the Springboks snatched a 17-15 halftime lead with a 32nd-minute try by wing JP Pietersen.

The All Blacks regained the lead in the 56th minute as replacement flank Sione Lauaki stepped inside to score.

In the end, a moment of individual brilliance by Januarie settled the outcome.

The gutsy scrumhalf broke from a ruck on the New Zealand 10-metre line and chipped the ball over replacement fullback Leon Macdonald, before winning the race to the ball and scoring.

The Springboks had the All Blacks under pressure in the first half as, playing with the wind, they dominated territorially.

They failed to take full advantage on the scoreboard, however, and Pietersen's try, after eighth man Joe van Niekerk broke from a five-metre scrum, was complemented only by three penalties by fullback Percy Montgomery and a drop goal by flyhalf Butch James.

Carter kicked five penalties as the home side made full use of their occasional visits into South African territory.

New Zealand then replicated the Springboks' dominance playing with the wind when they changed ends but had to wait 16 minutes before scoring, with centre Conrad Smith wriggling through a tackle to allow Lauaki to storm over the line.

James kicked a penalty to close the gap to 22-20 before Carter landed a superb drop goal to stretch the lead to five points again heading into the last 10 minutes.

James landed another penalty and the Springboks then managed to keep the All Blacks out while scoring on their only foray into New Zealand territory.

Springbok coach Peter de Villiers said the victory had no bearing on his coaching credentials because he felt he had nothing to prove.

De Villiers, South Africa's first black coach, had been under pressure both in New Zealand and back at home after the world champions lost 19-8 in Wellington last week.

"I've got nothing to prove. I believe in myself, the players and God. Everyone's entitled to their opinion but the way we stood up today as a group can change those opinions," De Villiers said.

"I always believed in the players and tonight they put it together because they believed in themselves. The players worked really hard in the week before the game and, because they are the world champions, they knew they had to uplift their game."

After a week marked by sniping between the two sides over how the Wellington test was officiated, De Villiers said a pre-test meeting with the referee in Dunedin, Matt Goddard, attended by both teams, had made a world of difference.

"We talked with the referee and asked for a great contest and we had it tonight. The self-belief of the players grew from that and so did the self-confidence."

All Blacks coach Graham Henry said the test had demonstrated the high calibre of rugby played in the Tri-nations tournament, which also features Australia.

"There are three very even sides in this competition and you couldn't get a bigger test that this one. It was a superb game, a really enjoyable spectacle and a great showcase for the game," he said.

"We played some magnificent rugby in the second half and if we can build on that then we will be pretty competitive in this competition.

"But South Africa played very well, they are a very experienced side who have had a lot of success in recent years. They showed that tonight and came through at the end to win."

South Africa now travel to Australia to play the Wallabies in Perth next Saturday.

Reuters

Comment 1 - 10 of 10

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  1. The Springboks are like Manchester United, you beat them and you are World Champion, until then . . . . . .

    From rr77uk, on Sat 12 Jul 10:24PM

  2. There are only 2 teams in International rugby.. and today one showed why they are the World Champions!
    Go Bokke! Only we can beat the All Blacks in their own back yard..
    South Africa. True World Champions and proving it!!

    From Liverpool FC Rules, on Sat 12 Jul 1:31PM

  3. To thorogood.john: Check stats and history and you will know you are wrong.. ABs beat almost everyone home and away. Their problem is world cups. They won it only once!

    From Half A Brain, on Sat 12 Jul 12:21PM

  4. So sorry I could not stop laughing long enough to type this, did I hear England,France and Wales could teach SA NZ and Aus about sportsmanship. Wasn't one of the French players cited last week for punching,never mind that the Irish and Scottish have been boxing people for ages to make up for lack of talent. But what made me laugh so much is that England are the biggest lot of foul play experts out there,wait sorry I just have to stop to laugh again. Nz should have fired Graham Henry and started over but they are still top of the board for the tri nations and should realistically win it by far. Odds on Aus will beat Sa next week as SA off the back of two gruelling matches while Aus had good rest, if they beat the AB's after that then this Tri Nations could go down the wire and should be the best so far.England sportmanslike, HA!

    From ruggers, on Sat 12 Jul 12:17PM

  5. New Zealand are the best team in the world? They are! but only when they are playing on home soil, give them matches out side of the country and they are just an ordernery team like any of the top nations at the sport. And as for dirty play! why a are either team complaining they are as bad as each other. Austrailia, New Zealand and South Africa could all learn a few things on how to play a clean game of rugby from the English, Welsh, Irish, Scotish and French teams, they all go out there to enjoy the game and are still just as passionate about winning for their country.
    All said and done the fans like the game no matter where or how it is played.

    From thorogood.john, on Sat 12 Jul 8:41AM

  6. New Zealand are the best team in the world? They are! but only when they are playing on home soil, give them matches out side of the country and they are just an ordernery team like any of the top nations at the sport. And as for dirty play! why a are either team complaining they are as bad as each other. Austrailia, New Zealand and South Africa could all learn a few things on how to play a clean game of rugby from the English, Welsh, Irish, Scotish and French teams, they all go out there to enjoy the game and are still just as passionate about winning for their country.
    All said and done the fans like the game no matter where or how it is played.

    From thorogood.john, on Sat 12 Jul 8:40AM

  7. Sorry, but SA are the World Champs. They won it and so are OFFICALLY the best team in the world, they win when it counts! As a Kiwi, I do not support all this rubbish when we play a game at home and play dirty that we are now the world champs. Geat real!

    From cattie1, on Sat 12 Jul 5:37AM

  8. In 1972, I left South Africa to earn some money and travel around New Zealand following the 1973 planned Spinbok Tour. It was cancelled due to politics (rightly). Now we have the new SA coach being criticized as inadequate and out of his depth, and it becomes a racist comment. If he can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen. He can either deliver a winning team, or not - no matter colour, creed, kind etc. Mr. De Villiers - take a look at the scoreboard!! If Craig Dowd or anyone else thinks the new coach cannot deliver, feel free to say so.

    From Graham M, on Sat 12 Jul 12:34AM

  9. SA must be well knackered at 7 for 0 :-)

    Anyone heard the rumours about Big Boy Ballacks move to WHUFC ?

    And who would have thought NASCAR'S Brian France would make a bid for the MCC and Tony Stewart a bid 2 bring dirt track racing to twickers ?

    makes you wonder this credit crunch :-)

    From art_tidesco, on Fri 11 Jul 7:25PM

  10. The reason for all this unsporting off-the-field behaviour surrounding clashes with the All Blacks is largely because teams - especially playing in NZ are usually on the back foot in playing terms. Even current world champions. Its nothing more than an attempt to unsettle the opposition prior to a match. So it will always be I suspect while NZ remains the overall best team in the world (taken over a statistically significant period) and the team everyone has to beat to claim to be the best. One suspects though that it will do little more in this instance than Graham Henry not having to think up much of a team talk before the game. Remember Austin Healy's comments about Australia?

    From satrianiax, on Fri 11 Jul 1:55PM
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