Try time: Sam Whitelock
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The All Blacks completed an impressive clean sweep in the Rugby Championship on Saturday, overcoming South Africa 32-16 at Soccer City on the outskirts of Johannesburg.
In a performance worthy of their status as the top-ranked team in the world, New Zealand weathered an early storm to overturn a half-time deficit and eventually run out comfortable winners.
The result extends the All Blacks' winning streak to 16 consecutive games, moving them within touching distance of the world record.
The Springboks led 16-12 at the break having dominated for most of the first half but were given a lesson in counter attacking to be outscored two tries to one in the opening stanza.
The All Blacks reversed the trend in the second period, adding two more tries while denying their hosts any points to underline their supremacy.
It was a classic case of shifting momentum - while South Africa started with a bang and ended with a whimper, the Kiwis progressively upped the tempo until there was only one team left in the contest.
The much-vaunted Highveld crowd mirrored their team's effort as they made it very clear to the All Blacks they weren't in Auckland anymore in the early stages but the corridors were filled with fans leaving the stadium with ten minutes left on the clock.
As was the case a week ago, Johan Goosen missed his first two attempts at goal but the hosts would nevertheless open the scoring with a rare sight: A South African try from a set-piece move. Willem Alberts bust through the All Black defence before offloading to Jean de Villiers, who showed off some juggling skills but managed to hold on. Bryan Habana was in space outside his skipper and had an easy run in, scoring behind the posts.
Goosen had no problems with the conversion and could further extend the lead to 10 points at the end of the first quarter when Brodie Retallick was penalised for a dangerous tackle.
The All Blacks had hardly ventured into the South African half but took their first chance to score in typical fashion, with a blistering counter-attack from broken play to send lock Sam Whitelock over in the corner.
If the hosts weren't already alerted to the New Zealand's ability to punish their mistakes, they were given a reminder on 35 minutes. Habana came flying up in search of an intercept, it didn't work, and Hosea Gear ghosted through the gap left in the Bok defensive line before offloading to Aaron Smith, who finished. Dan Carter's conversion gave the visitors a lead that made a mockery of the possession and territory stats.
The Boks were dealt another blow as Goosen was forced off injured but replacement fly-half Elton Jantjies held his nerve with his first kick to put South Africa back in front at 13-12.
Jantjies found the target again from 48 metres with the last act of the half to give the hosts a deserved four-point advantage at the interval.
The All Blacks moved back in front almost immediately after the restart however after Jaco Taute missed a tackle on Israel Dagg, who combined with Kieran Read to set up a try for Ma'a Nonu.
Disorganised defending cost the Boks another try as Conrad Smith touched down to put the visitors ten points clear once Carter had added the easy extras.
Two misses from Jantjies suggested the Boks' woes at the kicking tee were far from finished, prompting De Villiers to turn down a shot at goal in favour of chasing a try. And it nearly paid off, but Habana was not able to hang on when presented with a chance in the corner.
The last quarter was one-way traffic. Carter added a neat drop and a penalty to move his team well clear...in more ways than one.
Man of the Match There were a number of candidates in black but the official award went to Kieran Read, who was once again the ultimate example of a complete number eight as his ball skills matched his contribution in the tight exchanges.
Moment of the match: The All Blacks' second try, scored by Aaron Smith, summed up where these teams are at the moment. An instance of a Springbok trying too hard to do something special was punished by a clinical finish. Give All Blacks scraps, and they will feast!
Villian of the match: The 'fans' who left early.
The scorers:
For South Africa:
Try: Habana
Cons: Goosen
Pens: Goosen, Jantjies 2
For New Zealand:
Tries: Whitelock, A. Smith, Nonu, C. Smith
Cons: Carter 3
Pen: Carter
Drop goal: Carter
Yellow card: Dagg (66th min - offside)
South Africa: 15 Zane Kirchner, 14 Bryan Habana, 13 Jaco Taute, 12 Jean de Villiers (c), 11 Francois Hougaard, 10 Johan Goosen, 9 Ruan Pienaar, 8 Duane Vermeulen, 7 Willem Alberts, 6 Francois Louw, 5 Andries Bekker, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Jannie du Plessis, 2 Adriaan Strauss, 1 Tendai Mtawarira.
Replacements: 16 Tiaan Liebenberg, 17 Coenie Oosthuizen, 18 Flip van der Merwe, 19 Marcell Coetzee, 20 Elton Jantjies, 21 Juan de Jongh, 22 Pat Lambie.
New Zealand: 15 Israel Dagg, 14 Cory Jane, 13 Conrad Smith, 12 Ma'a Nonu, 11 Hosea Gear, 10 Daniel Carter, 9 Aaron Smith, 8 Kieran Read, 7 Richie McCaw (c), 6 Liam Messam, 5 Sam Whitelock, 4 Brodie Retallick, 3 Owen Franks, 2 Andrew Hore, 1 Tony Woodcock.
Replacements: 16 Keven Mealamu, 17 Ben Franks, 18 Luke Romano, 19 Adam Thomson, 20 Piri Weepu, 21 Aaron Cruden, 22 Tamati Ellison.
Referee: Romain Poite (France), Greg Garner (England)
Assistant referees: Shaun Veldsman (South Africa)
By Ross Hastie at Soccer City
Comments
new_j4a says...
Congratulations ABs. You were superb, brilliant, unbeatable. Now we know exactly what we are up against if we want to be number 1. I don't see much room for AB growth. You all seem pretty close to perfect. But the Boks have a way to go...let's hope we do develop the abundance of talent over the next 3 years.
Posted 21:46 06th October 2012
Euskadi says...
@Pariaka..he aha te tikanga o "Rohe Potae?" Hearty Porou!
Posted 21:44 06th October 2012
Euskadi says...
Missed the first 20 minutes, was still refereeing my game. Got very good feedback @Toulousain by the way. Anyway saw the game when it was 10 - 0 to the Boks and thought ... oh no, but then the ABs did what they usually do, scored quickly and efficiently. Read was immense, he is undoubtedly the best 8 in the game and perhaps this years IRB player of the year? McCaw had many positive contributions and Messam looked active when he had the ball. DC controlled the game well, Nonu and C Smith continue their impressive combination, Nonu with his aggressiveness and Smith with his clever option taking, he keeps defenders guessing and Hosea had one of his best games in Black, he always seems to look unsure when he's in space but he did everything right.
Huge congratulations to McCaw, that is a unique milestone, what else is there for the man to accomplish/achieve? Consecutive test wins? 100 tests as captain/victories as captain? Thats pushing it a bit for the old fella I think...
Honestly I was expecting a bit more from the Boks, especially the forwards, Flo was good on the ground but Alberts and Etzebeth weren't what they should have been. This was a match that the Boks really missed a Bakkies player, in your face aggression that unsettles the ABs. The Boks were there in the first half. At half time I said to the Englishmen next to me (who by the way is convinced that the ABs are favored by the IRB, refs, blah blah blah) the first 20 minutes of the second half will determine if the Boks win or not, if they dont score early the ABs will stretch out in the last 20. From kick off the second 40 was All Black!
Has any other team clean swept the TriNations/RC? Only NZ I suspect. Another !Exclamation Point! on the fact that the All Blacks are the best team in world rugby, no hang overs, no argument, altitude, travel, hostile crowd it doesn't matter, these guys do the business.
Posted 21:43 06th October 2012
Darth_Hans says...
Played 112 won 100. Next best Gregan 93 wins from 139 games.
Captain 66 wins from 74 games. Next best Smit 54 wins from 83 games.
IRB Player of the year 3 times, Nominated another 4 times. Next best O'Driscoll 3 nominations.
Super Rugby 4 wins from 7 finals, 11 consecutive playoffs.
Bledisloe Cup holders for 10 seasons...
RWC winning captain playing the tournament with a broken foot...
Truly great stats!
Posted 21:31 06th October 2012
wfgwoody says...
I can't say I wasn't worried. S.A. at home and after they flogged the criminal element last week. I thought with all the travel and them scoring first. I thought maybe this wasnt gonna be our day. But that 935kg forward pack did not have the juice in the second half. I can't see the Wobberlies knocking us off in Brisbane and then on to another clean sweep in Europe. Haven't lost there since 2002 and I don't see any of those teams really troubling this AB side. They will have the record by the end of the year and will add to it in the June home tests. Where will they end up I wonder? 20 or 25, 27? Maybe a record that will not be touched for a long time. Maybe 30!! Or maybe I am just getting ahead of myself.
Posted 21:00 06th October 2012
letsgoboks says...
I think we should all stand up and clap. Ritchie you absolute Legend!
Boks are still raw. Like I said before - everyone got a bit too excited after last weeks game. Other than the AB's - I do believe the boks are above the rest. But those bladdy kiwis... theyre something special.
As davodiablo mentioned... what a game considering it was a dead rubber!
Posted 21:00 06th October 2012
2eyedkiwi says...
Ritchie McCheat is a cheat, and his constant fighting with Carter ruined this game for the AB's.... (hi ho hi ho, its off to troll I go....).
Great game - and fantastic to see the AB big guns firing in a dead rubber on the highveld. The only positives for the Bokke were their scrum in the first half, and that they didn't concede a single penalty for 60mins. Sadly their back play, both attack and defense, was non-existent, and probably made the ABs look better than they are.
Posted 20:41 06th October 2012
whizz52 says...
Ritchie McCaw is the biggest cheat. McCheat got away with murder. AB's would never win if it wasn't for McCheat... sorry George Smith I thought I would put your comments up for you...
Posted 20:30 06th October 2012
boksmashoffice says...
Firstly congrats to the AB's. They were outstanding. The Boks missed too may tackles and that killed us. I still think Lambie should be our 10 (I am not a sharks fan). Kicking coach,backs coach and defence coach need to be sacked. Why the fella from WP is not the defence coach is beyond me. I hope Zane is finished as an entity in the Bok team. It is soo frustrating to not win. Well done to Carter for steering ship. Our guys are young. I hope HM will persisit with these guys.Bring on the Autumn internations. The Sh will prove how kakck the NH is.
Posted 20:20 06th October 2012
bigb6969 says...
Updating my records I keep, I think Carter has just passed 500 points in the 3Ns/Rugby Championship. 502 in 37 games.
Retallick was very lucky not to get a yellow card, he was not penalised at all for the dangerous tackle PR, it was offside.
The strike power of the ABs is awesome. This is a soccer sized pitch isn't it ? It is 2 metres narrower than a rugby field. The handling in the tries was awesome after some silly dropped ball.
Defence was hot as well. In the second half they gave half a metre at the rucks, and never looked like breaking.
To take the record of 18 we just have to beat the woeful Wallabies, then Italy and Scotland ! Australia without Genia is substantially weakened, no Mr Fixit Ashley Cooper, no Pocock, who have they got left, lots of potential but the whole team has been gutted. Then again Australia stopped our run two years ago when we played them a fourth time after the end of the Rugby Championship (RC) !
Posted 20:19 06th October 2012
Melkiwi says...
6 Oct 2012, 20:54 pm The boks are too robotic in their game plan, as Daniel Adongo (ex bulls player playing in nz) the SA play to structure game plans where as the nz play what¿s infront of them.Going forward the boks have a lot of potential with the young team the have, the forwards are going in the right direction but the backs aren¿t. They need to play guys like Lambie, JDJ and even Aplon who provide a lot of flair.
Posted 20:02 06th October 2012
geronimo says...
AB's although behind on stats,again show us they are a class act.Read would have to be the player of the series,outstanding #8 and is the best in the business.
A few penalties against us but with our intent on an attractive style of play is something to enjoy.
To SA credit they try to play the AB's style of game but once again they really only compete in the forwards,The reserve for SA @ 17 had a shocker his technique in the Scrum was 5th grade.
Look forward to see some changes for the Wallabies clash ie Ben Smith & co.
Posted 19:53 06th October 2012
lostguy101 says...
Welldone the AB's
Posted 19:53 06th October 2012
Rolf says...
Boks were good,
ABs were enornmous in accurancy and determination.
What can you say? The Boks are on the right track, but it will take them some years to reach the level of backline play the Kiwis once again displayed. and that is where it counts, where you score.
Hope the Goose can get rid off being so prone to injury and the Springboks can keep both: patience and eagerness to improve.
Come RWC, they might be better then the ABS who are aging.
still am heartbroken.
Posted 19:33 06th October 2012
AWEBLAX says...
The Boks scared the bajeebers out of me scoring that first try, when the Wobblies and Pumas do that on their homeground I'm fine, but with South Africa thats a whole new ball game, it was'nt until the boyz in black scored their 3rd try I realized how good this AllBlack team really is, yep yep a bit slow I know but hell they're freakin brilliant. Congrats guys on going through the comp undefeated and Captain Fantastic on his milestone big wraps also to Louw and Habana once again great games and the South African commentary educational and positve remarks, something the Aussies could learn from, Kearns and Marto are both poor and negative which does nothing to help lift the sport in Australia.
Posted 19:26 06th October 2012
philipjfry says...
Painful, just painful. I never really thought they could win, but I believed in them without admitting it to myself. What a f-ing idiot.
Posted 19:23 06th October 2012
RealRugby says...
Something satisfying about being out pointed by the Boks in both territory and possession, and still manage to deliver a good old fashioned spanking!
Posted 18:40 06th October 2012
BillyMutt2 says...
Dan Carter truly is the greatest flyhalf the game has ever seen. The way he guided the All Blacks to victory today was outstanding.
Kieran Read and Richie McCaw, both excellent on the day. I thought SA started well, but they couldn't keep up when the All Blacks started applying real pressure. Rolland's usual pedantic refereeing style actually played into SA's hands in the first half, but as usual McCaw and his troops found a way to adjust to the ref in the second half.
Doesn't take away from a good opening quarter by the Springboks, though. But on the whole, I thought there were very few positives for the Springboks, and it's back to the drawing board for the team that very clearly is NOT number one.
Sorry JayStarr, couldn't resist that one.
Posted 18:39 06th October 2012
BlacknessNZ says...
Awesome AB's great win! DC's accuracy, Hosea's pace and power, and my man of the match Keiran Read monster game! This team will break the record for most consecutive wins in test rugby and arguably one of the greatest teams of this generation! Congrats Richie on 100 test wins you are the man!!!
Posted 18:29 06th October 2012
three6three6 says...
Another outstanding performance..... Richie McCaw, 100 wins.... now that is a record that is a little bit special!
Posted 18:18 06th October 2012