The All Blacks are true champions
Sat, 21 Aug 2010 18:56
Arch rivals: Richie McCaw and Bryan Habana. (c) Gallo
New Zealand clinched the Tri-Nations with an incredible come-from-behind 29-22 win over South Africa in Soweto on Saturday.
The All Blacks trailed till the 78th minute, but scored two tries in as many minutes to break Springbok hearts and make it a 3-0 whitewash in 2010 - avenging their three losses to the Boks in 2009.
What an occasion! What emotion! What drama! What a finish!
It was an amazing, emotionally charge match before a huge crowd in a great stadium. And in the end there was astonished elation in the All Black camp and heart-freezing disappointment and deflation in the Springboks camp after being two minutes from victory.
For the All Blacks it was two minutes to a thrilling victory, a whitewash of the Springboks and certain possession of the Tri-Nations. They now have 23 points to South Africa's one.
The Springboks were so different from the listless side that toured Australasia and they built a lead of eight points with 18 minutes to go and then led 22-17 with just two minutes to go - two fateful, shattering minutes.
In those two minutes the All Blacks scored 12 points with two tries.
Richie McCaw scored the first when he got a pass from Cory Jane and forced his way over in the right corner as Jean de Villiers tackled him. It was a tough decision for the TMO whose verdict was: "There is no clear evidence that the player was out before he grounded the ball."
Daniel Carter, who kicked poorly in this match, missed the conversion. 22-22.
The Springboks won the kick-off and went wide left, clearly in search of victory. The All Blacks won a turnover off De Villiers and went left where Ma'a Nonu burst though John Smit on a long run. He drew his man and gave to Israel Dagg who was free on his left, and Joe Rokocoko's replacement scored. This time Carter converted and the final whistle went.
Shattered, John Smit knelt in reflection. His nearly perfect day was in ruins. It all came tumbling down. He had been allowed onto the field way ahead of his team-mates as he became the second Springbok after Percy Montgomery to play 100 Tests for South Africa. His family were there. The whole of South Africa was with him - the great player, the great leader, the good face of rugby and of South Africa.
Then it seemed that his side were on the way to victory as they climbed into the All Blacks, tackling hard, competing at the every opportunity, keen, alert. Sadly some of that fizzled out and some serious errors crept in in the second half.. Morné Steyn kicked too far and the All Blacks had a scrum inside the Springbok 10-metre line. CJ van der Linde was penalised for obstruction and Carter scored three points. Steyn kicked a penalty into touch-in-goal and the All Blacks had another scrum inside the Springbok 10-metre line. Schalk Burger knocked on behind a tackle/ruck when the ball was free. Victor Matfield and De Villiers conceded turnovers. And then there was the tackle that Smit missed that will be a nightmare for the rest of his days.
It was not only the Springboks who made mistakes. There was a clear and obvious forward pass in the lead-up to McCaw's try.
But all in all it was a great occasion, an epic Test, and the side which deserved to win actually did so. In that second half and before those two tries at the death, the All Blacks had had two great opportunities to score tries. Once JP Pietersen tackled Carter out at the left corner and once Gio Aplon tackled Jane out at the right corner. The only chance the Springboks had was right at the start of the half when Matfield charged down a Carter clearance and Burger was close.
It is interesting that the All Blacks had the better of the second half when they were expected to fade at the hands of altitude. The Springboks on the other hand had the better of the first half and a great component in it was the performance of François Hougaard, starting a Test for the first time at scrumhalf. He was magnificent. Why he was substituted with five minutes to go made no rugby sense whatsoever. One of his best weapons was his lofted kicks which Pietersen and Bryan Habana chased. With no gift-wrapped opportunities, Habana managed to make chances for himself and had his best Test of the year.
When Juan de Jongh, another brave performer, was penalised for high tackle on Jane, Carter made it 3-0 after 5 minutes. Their lead lasted just five minutes and would not be regained till after the 79th minute.
Kieran Read was penalised at a tackle and Steyn, whose goal-kicking was impeccable, made it 3-all after 10 minutes.
Three minutes later, after a run by Hougaard, Ben Franks was penalised at a tackle and Steyn made it 6-3 for a Springbok lead which lasted till Steyn was penalised at a tackle and Carter made it 6-all.
Mils Muliaina was penalised at tackle well inside his own 22. Steyn tapped and darted and soon the Springboks were battering at the All Blacks line till Burger scored. Steyn converted. 13-6 after 25 minutes.
A penalty by Carter, when Matfield was penalised, and another by Steyn when Joe Rokocoko was penalised for a late tackle on Hougaard, brought the score to 16-9 with 9 minutes to the break.
Aplon did what the Springboks knew they should not do - kicked pointless down the field., the All Blacks counterattacked and Brad Thorn burst through Burger on the left. From there the ball went far right where a huge overlap gave Tony Woodcock an easy jog to the line. At half-time the Springboks led 16-14.
Woodcock was penalised at a scrum and the South African lead stretched to 19-14. Pietersen just prevented Carter from scoring and then Read went into the side of a maul and it was 22-14 with 18 minutes to play. Aplon just prevented Jane from scoring, and by this time the All Blacks really were well on top, dominating possession and territory as they nudged the score up to 22-17 with 13 minutes to play.
There was excitement when Carter was careless and knocked on a Springbok drop-out at his own 22 but then Steyn kicked a penalty dead and Francois Louw was penalised, but - to general joy - Carter missed the easy kick with 5 minutes to play.
De Jongh was penalised at tackle, the All Blacks tapped and went left before coming back right where McCaw squeezed over in the corner to level the scores. He was also there in the winning of the turnover that set up Dagg's winning try.
Man of the Match: There were great performances by Juan de Jongh, François Hougaard, Juan Smith and Schalk Burger for South Africa. For New Zealand there was ever-threatening Ma'a Nonu, energetic Mils Muliaina, bustling Keven Mealamu, strong Brad Thorn and our choice the great man himself - Richie McCaw.
Moment of the Match: One would so have liked tit to be John Smit's emotional march onto the field but instead it was Ma'a Nonu's break past him that led to the winning of the Test.
Villain of the Match: Nobody.
The scorers:
For South Africa:
Try: Burger
Con: Steyn
Pens: Steyn 5
For New Zealand:
Tries: Woodcock, McCaw, Dagg
Con: Carter
Pens: Carter 4
The teams:
South Africa: 15 Gio Aplon, 14 JP Pietersen, 13 Juan de Jongh, 12 Jean de Villiers 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Morné Steyn, 9 François Hougaard, 8 Pierre Spies, 7 Juan Smith, 6 Schalk Burger, 5 Victor Matfield, 4 Flip van der Merwe, 3 Jannie du Plessis, 2 John Smit (captain), 1 Gurthrö Steenkamp.
Replacements: 16 Chiliboy Ralepelle, 17 CJ van der
Linde, 18 Danie Rossouw, 19 Francois Louw, 20 Ricky Januarie, 21 Butch James, 22 Wynand Olivier.
New Zealand: 15 Mils Muliaina, 14 Cory Jane, 13 Conrad Smith, 12 Ma'a Nonu, 11 Joe Rokocoko, 10 Daniel Carter, 9 Jimmy Cowan, 8 Kieran Read, 7 Richie McCaw (captain), 6 Jerome Kaino, 5 Tom Donnelly, 4 Brad Thorn, 3 Ben Franks, 2 Keven Mealamu, 1 Tony Woodcock.
Replacements: 16 Corey Flynn, 17 John Afoa, 18 Samuel Whitelock, 19 Victor Vito, 20 Piri Weepu, 21 Aaron Cruden, 22 Israel Dagg.
Referee: Nigel Owens (Wales)
Assistant referees: Alain Rolland (Ireland), Simon McDowell (Ireland)
TMO: Shaun Veldsman (South Africa)
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