SOUTH AFRICA AND New Zealand went toe-to-toe in another high-skilled, high-paced, incredibly entertaining and frenetic Rugby Championship Test in Ellis Park today.
The match was decided by a mix of quick All Black thinking and slow Springbok reactions in line-out defence five minutes from time.
Richie McCaw took advantage of a gap in the green line and called Codie Taylor’s line-out throw on himself, leaving him with only Ruan Pienaar obstructing his way to the try-line.
Yet the seven-point winning margin doesn’t tell the tale of a game which was dominated for long periods by the home side.
The ‘Boks looked set to take a 10 – 3 lead into the half-time break thanks to Willie Le Roux’s 21st minute try.
The clinical score came from a turnover by Bismarck Du Plessis, hounding Kieran Read as he reached for a loose Israel Dagg pass after fielding Ruan Pienaar’s Garryowen.
Advertisement
The inexperienced midfield partnership of Damian De Allende and Jesse also had a big early impact on the game and both had a part to play in the opening try. De Allende whipping a long pass left after the turnover and Kriel delivered a perfect inside pass to Le Roux.
The game appeared to be slipping away. However the World Champions, as is their wont, found a way back into it. Lima Sopoaga, who had a difficult day off the kicking tee, creating a vital try for Ben Smith to help the visitors claw back to 10 – 10 on the stroke of half-time.
The opening 10 minutes of the second half brought more scintillating rugby. Kriel underlined his status as the Springboks’ brightest young talent by cutting a devastating line through Conrad Smith and Ma’a Nonu on his way to the line.
New Zealand hit back almost instantly to bring the scores to 17 apiece with Dane Coles showing his pace on another superb line on a soft pass.
The hosts dominated most of the 20 minutes that followed, but even with Sam Whitelock sin-binned, they only had a Handre Pollard penalty to show for their dominance.
As the All Blacks scrapped their way clear of their own 22 with a McCaw line-out steal and injury to replacement prop Vincent Kock brought uncontested scrums, the final 10 minutes saw the world’s number one team crank up the pressure notch by notch.
Man-of-the-match Charles Piutau and Brodie Retallick made big carries to force South Africa back to their own line. And though the big lock was held up, the hosts struggled to sustain the intensity and were soon watching McCaw crash over to seal victory in his last Test in Johannesburg.
Scorers
South Africa
Tries: W Le Roux, J Kriel
Conversions: H Pollard (2)
Penalty: H Pollard
New Zealand
Tries: B Smith, D Coles, R McCaw
Conversions: L Sopoaga (3)
Penalties: L Sopoaga (2)
AP / Press Association Images
AP / Press Association Images / Press Association Images
South Africa: 15 Willie le Roux, 14 JP Pietersen, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Handré Pollard, 9 Ruan Pienaar, 8 Schalk Burger, 7 Francois Louw, 6 Heinrich Brüssow, 5 Lood de Jager, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Jannie du Plessis, 2 Bismarck du Plessis, 1 Tendai Mtawarira.
Replacements: 16 Adriaan Strauss, 17 Trevor Nyakane, 18 Vincent Koch, 19 Flip van der Merwe, 20 Warren Whiteley, 21 Cobus Reinach, 22 Pat Lambie, 23 Lionel Mapoe.
New Zealand: 15 Israel Dagg, 14 Ben Smith, 13 Conrad Smith, 12 Ma’a Nonu, 11 Charles Piutau, 10 Lima Sopoaga, 9 Aaron Smith, 8 Kieran Read, 7 Richie McCaw (c), 6 Liam Messsam, 5 James Broadhurst, 4 Brodie Retallick, 3 Owen Franks, 2 Dane Coles, 1 Tony Woodcock.
Replacements: 16 Codie Taylor, 17 Wyatt Crockett, 18 Ben Franks, 19 Sam Whitelock, 20 Victor Vito, 21 TJ Perenara, 22 Beauden Barrett, 23 Malakai Fekitoa
All Blacks outsmart South Africa with late line-out play in 5-try thriller
South Africa 20
New Zealand 27
SOUTH AFRICA AND New Zealand went toe-to-toe in another high-skilled, high-paced, incredibly entertaining and frenetic Rugby Championship Test in Ellis Park today.
The match was decided by a mix of quick All Black thinking and slow Springbok reactions in line-out defence five minutes from time.
Richie McCaw took advantage of a gap in the green line and called Codie Taylor’s line-out throw on himself, leaving him with only Ruan Pienaar obstructing his way to the try-line.
Yet the seven-point winning margin doesn’t tell the tale of a game which was dominated for long periods by the home side.
The ‘Boks looked set to take a 10 – 3 lead into the half-time break thanks to Willie Le Roux’s 21st minute try.
The clinical score came from a turnover by Bismarck Du Plessis, hounding Kieran Read as he reached for a loose Israel Dagg pass after fielding Ruan Pienaar’s Garryowen.
The inexperienced midfield partnership of Damian De Allende and Jesse also had a big early impact on the game and both had a part to play in the opening try. De Allende whipping a long pass left after the turnover and Kriel delivered a perfect inside pass to Le Roux.
The game appeared to be slipping away. However the World Champions, as is their wont, found a way back into it. Lima Sopoaga, who had a difficult day off the kicking tee, creating a vital try for Ben Smith to help the visitors claw back to 10 – 10 on the stroke of half-time.
The opening 10 minutes of the second half brought more scintillating rugby. Kriel underlined his status as the Springboks’ brightest young talent by cutting a devastating line through Conrad Smith and Ma’a Nonu on his way to the line.
New Zealand hit back almost instantly to bring the scores to 17 apiece with Dane Coles showing his pace on another superb line on a soft pass.
The hosts dominated most of the 20 minutes that followed, but even with Sam Whitelock sin-binned, they only had a Handre Pollard penalty to show for their dominance.
As the All Blacks scrapped their way clear of their own 22 with a McCaw line-out steal and injury to replacement prop Vincent Kock brought uncontested scrums, the final 10 minutes saw the world’s number one team crank up the pressure notch by notch.
Man-of-the-match Charles Piutau and Brodie Retallick made big carries to force South Africa back to their own line. And though the big lock was held up, the hosts struggled to sustain the intensity and were soon watching McCaw crash over to seal victory in his last Test in Johannesburg.
Scorers
South Africa
Tries: W Le Roux, J Kriel
Conversions: H Pollard (2)
Penalty: H Pollard
New Zealand
Tries: B Smith, D Coles, R McCaw
Conversions: L Sopoaga (3)
Penalties: L Sopoaga (2)
South Africa: 15 Willie le Roux, 14 JP Pietersen, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Handré Pollard, 9 Ruan Pienaar, 8 Schalk Burger, 7 Francois Louw, 6 Heinrich Brüssow, 5 Lood de Jager, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Jannie du Plessis, 2 Bismarck du Plessis, 1 Tendai Mtawarira.
Replacements: 16 Adriaan Strauss, 17 Trevor Nyakane, 18 Vincent Koch, 19 Flip van der Merwe, 20 Warren Whiteley, 21 Cobus Reinach, 22 Pat Lambie, 23 Lionel Mapoe.
New Zealand: 15 Israel Dagg, 14 Ben Smith, 13 Conrad Smith, 12 Ma’a Nonu, 11 Charles Piutau, 10 Lima Sopoaga, 9 Aaron Smith, 8 Kieran Read, 7 Richie McCaw (c), 6 Liam Messsam, 5 James Broadhurst, 4 Brodie Retallick, 3 Owen Franks, 2 Dane Coles, 1 Tony Woodcock.
Replacements: 16 Codie Taylor, 17 Wyatt Crockett, 18 Ben Franks, 19 Sam Whitelock, 20 Victor Vito, 21 TJ Perenara, 22 Beauden Barrett, 23 Malakai Fekitoa
As you would expect, Samoa and Fiji traded some huge tackles this morning
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
england 2015 New Zealand rugby championship rwc 15 South Africa