McCaw magic sinks Springboks
Captain Richie McCaw marked his 140th appearance for New Zealand with a smart try five minutes from time that delivered a 27-20 victory over arch-foes South Africa on Saturday.
The All Blacks flank won a line-out close to the Springboks line and brushed off the effort of scrumhalf Ruan Pienaar to stop him scoring in a Rugby Championship second round Test at Ellis Park in Johannesburg.
Debutant flyhalf Lima Sopoaga converted and kicked a last-minute penalty to give New Zealand a sixth victory in their last seven clashes with South Africa.
The match was a carbon copy of the loss last weekend in Australia for the Springboks, as they led for most of the 80 minutes only to concede a late try.
South Africa were left ruing a 10 minute second half spell when they had a numerical advantage after replacement lock Sam Whitelock was sin-binned, but failed to score.
It was an absorbing clash between the world number one-ranked All Blacks and second-ranked Springboks and indicated why they are among the favourites for the World Cup in England from mid-September.
New Zealand are famed for scoring late in the opening half and they did it again to leave the teams level at 10-10 after 40 exciting, fast-paced minutes on a chilly evening.
A turnover, clever inside pass from centre Ma'a Nonu and a break by Sopoaga set up right wing Ben Smith to score on the stroke of half-time.
Sopoaga, who opened the scoring with a close-range third minute penalty awarded for a Springbok going off his feet at a ruck, converted a simple kick.
The first half highlight for South Africa came on 10 minutes when a turnover triggered a try by fullback Willie le Roux.
Hooker Bismarck du Plessis caught slow-reacting All Blacks No.8 Kieran Read in possession, South Africa stole the ball and an inside pass from centre Jesse Kriel allowed le Roux to dot down.
Flyhalf Handre Pollard converted for a four point advantage that stretched to seven when he slotted a penalty from the halfway line, after New Zealand flank Liam Messam high-tackled Kriel.
Both teams had cause for satisfaction after the first half, with the Springboks solid in the scrum, combative at the breakdowns and strong in defence.
New Zealand took the lone first half line-out steal and the world champions always looked dangerous with the ball in hand.
South Africa regained the lead seven minutes into the second half as Kriel burst between vastly-experienced centres Nonu and Conrad Smith to score a try that Pollard converted.
But the lead lasted just three minutes before New Zealand hooker Dane Coles scored a similar try, displaying the power of a forward and pace of a back to score and Sopoaga converted.
Another Pollard penalty restored the lead for South Africa and they stayed in front until McCaw struck the decisive blow.
Man of the Match: The loose trio of captain Schalk Burger, Francois Louw and Heinrich Brüssow were simply all over the place and worked well off each other. Brüssow was particularly menacing at the breakdowns and showed Heyneke Meyer what he is really capable of. Lodewyk de Jager was demonic and quite simply put his body on the line in all facets of play. Once again, the centre combination of Damian de Allende and Jesse Kriel were a massive threat. For the All Blacks, Kieran Read was his reliable self while Lima Sopoaga certainly never looked out of his depth. Charles Piutau looked dangerous with ball-in-hand and took the battle to the Springboks. However, for his late try and excellent work rate throughout the match, our nod goes to Richie McCaw.
Moment of the Match: It would be unfair to single out a specific moment of the encounter, however, the entire 80 minutes was something to behold. A highly intense match of running rugby with brutal tackles and ferocious work at the breakdowns. If ever there was an advert for the game, this match was it.
Villain of the Match: Absolutely no-one, not even Jannie du Plessis.
The scorers:
For South Africa:
Tries: le Roux, Kriel
Cons: Pollard 2
Pens: Pollard 2
For New Zealand:
Tries: B Smith, Coles, McCaw
Cons: Sopoaga 3
Pens: Sopoaga 2
Yellow card: Samuel Whitelock (New Zealand, 59 – professional foul; slowing down the ball)
Teams:
South Africa: 15 Willie le Roux, 14 Cornal Hendricks, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Handré Pollard, 9 Ruan Pienaar, 8 Schalk Burger (captain), 7 Francois Louw, 6 Heinrich Brüssow, 5 Lodewyk 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 (captain), 6 Liam Messam, 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 Samuel Whitelock, 20 Victor Vito, 21 TJ Perenara, 22 Beauden Barrett, 23 Malakai Fekitoa.
Referee: Jérôme Garcès (France)
Assistant referees: Romain Poite (France), Leighton Hodges (Wales)
TMO: Graham Hughes (England)
