By Lehlohonolo Lehana live from Ellis Park.
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New Zealand stunned South Africa 33-16 to draw first blood in their historic four-Test Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry series at Ellis Park in Johannesburg on Saturday night.
After surviving a ferocious first half to trail only 13-12, the All Blacks’ deep belief and ability to produce something from nothing turned a tense contest into a rout by five tries to Springboks’ one.
The All Blacks had been underdogs going into the first international of their eight-match tour but took full advantage of the home side’s numerous handling errors and ill discipline for a statement victory that ended a 12-match winning streak for the Springboks and will rock the confidence of the world champions.
Will Jordan extended his run as New Zealand’s record try scorer with two tries that book ended scores from Josh Moorby, Fabian Holland and Luke Jacobson. Ruben Love kicked over four conversions.
Springboks try came from Andre Esterhuizen with three penalties and a conversion from Cheslin Kolbe but they lost their discipline towards the end, after multiple turnovers, and finished with 13 players as Marco van Staden and Cobus Reinach were sent to the sin bin in the final 10 minutes.
Since winning the 2019 World Cup, South Africa had beaten New Zealand seven times in 11 previous meetings, and the back-to-back world champions will now turn their attention to next Saturday’s encounter at Cape Town Stadium.
Rassie Erasmus, though, will be sweating over the availability of speedster Kurt-Lee Arendse, hauled off early and permanently replaced due to a failed HIA test, and Kolbe, who limped off before the start of the final quarter in the match.
The Kiwis beat the Stormers (38-21), Sharks (54-0) and Vodacom Bulls (50-19) over the last 15 days in Cape Town, Durban and Pretoria, respectively, and must quickly regroup for Tuesday’s clash against the Lions at Ellis Park.
Springboks – Try: André Esterhuizen. Conversion: Cheslin Kolbe. Penalties: Kolbe (3).
All Blacks – Tries: Will Jordan (2), Josh Moorby, Fabian Holland, Luke Jacobsen. Conversions: Ruben Love (4).
Captain Pieter-Steph du Toit refused to make excuses.
“All credit to New Zealand, they were just better than us,” the Bok skipper said.
“We made some mistakes and we weren’t able to convert the opportunities we had, so unfortunately we shot ourselves in the foot and in a game like this, it’s those small errors and small opportunities you get that count.”