Boks fight back to sink All Blacks in Ellis Park thriller

MATCH REPORT: The Springboks moved a step closer to winning this year’s Rugby Championship title after they edged the All Blacks 31-27 at Ellis Park on Saturday.

The world champions were 17-27 down with less than 12 minutes on the clock before tries by Kwagga Smith and Grant Williams helped them secure a famous victory in Johannesburg.

The All Blacks outscored the Springboks by four tries to three in the 80 minutes. However, 16 points from Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu’s boot proved to be the difference.

With three rounds left to play, the Boks have an eight-point lead over the All Blacks in the standings.

The All Blacks applied the early pressure with ball in hand and they had the Springboks scrambling on defence.

That pressure resulted in a yellow card for Aphelele Fassi in the seventh minute and from the penalty, Codie Taylor scored the first try of the game from a powerful driving maul.

However, the Springboks had some fire in their bellies after that and after a few penalties in the All Blacks’ half, hooker Bongi Mbonambi broke off a driving maul before powering over for a try in the 17th minute.

Feinberg-Mngomezulu then ran out of time to complete his conversion attempt.

He made up for it in the 30th minute when he landed a 61-metre penalty to give his side a one-point lead.

Just when it looked like the Boks had the ascendancy, the All Blacks hit back after an unforced error in the midfield.

The ball was spread wide to Caleb Clarke who had the pace and power to run in for his team’s second try.

With less than four minutes left in the first half, Feinberg-Mngomezulu made it a one-point ball game again with a three-pointer after a scrum penalty deep inside New Zealand’s half.

The playmaker had a drop-goal attempt just before the half-time whistle, but the ball went wide which meant the All Blacks went into the break in front.

It was the perfect start to the second half for the All Blacks after Jordie Barrett intercepted Damian de Allende’s pass in the midfield before racing away for his team’s third try.

Feinberg-Mngomezulu reduced New Zealand’s lead to just five points with a penalty in the 46th minute before Damian McKenzie cancelled it out with a penalty of his own moments later.

The All Blacks got an official warning for repeated infringements at the breakdown and the Boks were back in range in the 60th minute with another three-pointer.

However, the All Blacks just looked better with ball in hand and Clarke scored his second try in the 52nd minute after some brilliant play from a line-out.

There was a slight momentum shift in the final quarterfinal with the Boks using their big pack to get the upper hand.

They were rewarded when Ofa Tu’ungafasi was shown a yellow card for collapsing a maul in the 68th minute and not long after that Smith powered over the tryline from close range for the home side.

The Boks then found themselves in front in the 75th minute when Williams weaved his way to the All Blacks’ tryline after some great play by his forwards in the build-up.

Rassie Erasmus’ side managed the final minutes well to ensure they remained unbeaten in this year’s tournament.

Man of the match: Flyhalf Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu made a few mistakes with his decision-making, but he showed great composure in that final quarter to guide his side to victory. Scrumhalf Grant Williams brought the pace and scored the winning try. However, the award goes to that man Pieter-Steph du Toit. He was a colossus in the physical exchanges with ball in hand and on defence.

Moment of the match: Take your pick. Two tries in the final 12 minutes gave the win to the Boks. Grant Williams’ try in the 75th minute was the match-winner.

Villain of the match: It was an epic clash, and no one deserves the ‘villain’ title

The scorers:

For South Africa:
Try: Mbonambi, Smith, Williams
Cons: Feinberg-Mngomezulu 2
Pens: Feinberg-Mngomezulu 4

For New Zealand:
Tries: Taylor, Clarke 2, J Barrett
Cons: McKenzie 2
Pen: McKenzie

Yellow cards: Aphelele Fassi (South Africa, 7′ – cynical play, tackling from an offside position); Ofa Tu’ungafasi (New Zealand, 68′ – cynical play, collapsing the maul)

Teams:

South Africa: 15 Aphelele Fassi, 14 Cheslin Kolbe, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Kurt-Lee Arendse, 10 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, 9 Cobus Reinach, 8 Jasper Wiese, 7 Ben-Jason Dixon, 6 Siya Kolisi (captain), 5 Ruan Nortje, 4 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 3 Frans Malherbe, 2 Bongi Mbonambi, 1 Ox Nche.
Replacements: 16 Malcolm Marx, 17 Gerhard Steenekamp, 18 Vincent Koch, 19 Eben Etzebeth, 20 Elrigh Louw, 21 Kwagga Smith, 22 Grant Williams, 23 Handre Pollard.

New Zealand: 15 Beauden Barrett, 14 Will Jordan, 13 Rieko Ioane, 12 Jordie Barrett, 11 Caleb Clarke, 10 Damian McKenzie, 9 TJ Perenara, 8 Ardie Savea, 7 Sam Cane, 6 Ethan Blackadder, 5 Tupou Vaa’i, 4 Scott Barrett (captain), 3 Tyrel Lomax, 2 Codie Taylor, 1 Tamaiti Williams.
Replacements: 16 Asafo Aumua, 17 Ofa Tu’ungafasi, 18 Fletcher Newell, 19 Sam Darry, 20 Samipeni Finau, 21 Cortez Ratima, 22 Anton Lienert-Brown, 23 Mark Tele’a.

Referee: Andrew Brace (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Matthew Carley (England) and Jordan Way (Australia)
TMO: Brian MacNeice (Ireland)

Photo credit: Anton Geyser