Match Report: All Blacks v South Africa, Third Test | Rugby's Greatest Rivalry
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South Africa’s power, confidence and energy swamped the All Blacks in the second half at Soweto’s FNB Stadium on Saturday.
Yet, they still have a chance to share the series after the final Test in Baltimore, USA next weekend although they will have to do it without captain, and two-try scorer, Ardie Savea with a shoulder injury after having taken Marx’s head to the shoulder at a breakdown. He left the field and was replaced by Wallace Sititi.
Coach Dave Rennie confirmed after the game that Savea will not travel to the USA.
The Springboks’ scrum and lineout maul rampaged through the vital stages of the second half to reach a 29-17 lead and push the All Blacks into a pressure-laden catch-up game, which increased risks and saw close decisions go South Africa’s way.
It was the most dominant South African performance of the series, with their power play taking the sting out of the All Blacks, never more than in the triumphant rolling maul that yielded a try for hooker Malcolm Marx 15 minutes from the end.
Marx, No8 Jasper Wiese, lock Ruan Nortje, flankers Peter-Steph du Toit and Siya Kolisi were ever-present around the ball and increased the competitiveness of the breakdown.
New Zealand did have a last-minute comeback when replacement hooker Samisoni Taukei’aho scored after a tap penalty move. While it drew them within five points, it could not hide South Africa’s dominant performance in key moments.
Ardie Savea injury proves pivotal
The All Blacks lost skipper and No8 Ardie Savea, who scored two of their tries, late in the first half, and missed his experience and guidance. They also made more errors than was comfortable in such a tight game, errors that aided South Africa’s cause.
New Zealand will look at the match statistics, where they had the better of the figures, and wonder why they couldn't convert them.
They looked strong early, especially when running kicked ball back hard at the South Africans and gaining space on the flanks.
Nine minutes into the half, Savea had the ball out wide and, in attempting to slip a pass to flanker Peter Lakai outside, the Springboks' first five-eighths, Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, stuck out an arm to impede the pass and was sin-binned. From the resulting lineout, hooker Asafo Aumua charged around the back to carry the ball close to the line where Savea was able to pick up the ball to score his 34th Test try.
A mid-half burst of penalties conceded, starting from a scrum infringement and continuing downfield for three kicks to touch that found the Springboks on the All Blacks’ line, only to infringe themselves.
However, they regained possession and worked the ball themselves to find second five-eighths Damian de Allende stationed wide. He beat wing Leroy Carter’s tackle and gave wing Kurt-Lee Arendse a chance to go over in the corner after 20 minutes.
The All Blacks maintained their running play, and lock Sam Darry was fed into space and got into the Springbok 22m area. Working the ball wide, Savea threw a long pass to Carter, who took the ball down the sideline before the tackle. He released the ball, but Feinberg-Mngomezulu attempted to sweep it back.
Unfortunately for him, Savea had supported and was able to take the ball to score his second try in the 25th minute.
Five minutes later, Savea had to leave the field injured with a shoulder injury after having taken Marx’s head to the shoulder at a breakdown. He left the field and was replaced by Wallace Sititi.
South Africa replacement fullback Manie Libbok then made an outstanding counter-attack run to be tackled just short of the line. Still, in the defensive response, first five-eighths Ruben Love was sin-binned for a cynical action in defence. That gave South Africa a five-metre scrum, which they used to roll the All Blacks back, but an offence led referee Nika Amashukeli to award a penalty try.
The All Blacks lost centre Quinn Tupaea three minutes into the second half, but in working the ball from the lineout, Jordan was unable to hold the ball 15 metres out, which relieved the pressure on South Africa.
A lift in tempo after replacements were introduced saw Roigard initiating more play, and after 55 minutes Jordan was in the line on the left from his right wing. He put a kick behind the Springboks' defence. Carter ran through to secure the ball and,, while tackled, lobbed it up for the supporting Jordan to take the pass and score.
That broke the 12-12 impasse, but it was immediately negated after wing Ethan Hooker contested the restart and allowed South Africa to move the ball wide where centre Jesse Kriel beat Carter’s tackle and ran 25 metres to score.
They added to that by unleashing their set-piece strength, first from a huge scrum after a long kick by Jordan went dead. From the scrum penalty, the Springboks set up a huge lineout drive that split the All Blacks’ pack and allowed Marx to go over under the posts to extend the lead to 26-17 with 15 minutes to play.
Match Score Sheet
South Africa 29 (Kurt-Lee Arendse, Jesse Kriel, Malcolm Marx tries; Penalty try; Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu 2 con, pen) New Zealand 24 (Ardie Savea 2, Will Jordan, Samisoni Taukei’aho tries; Ruben Love con; Damian McKenzie con). HT: 12-12
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