Rugby
All Blacks sink the Boks─── 22:31 Sat, 25 Jul 2015
The All Blacks are once again proving to be the team to beat with the World Champions beating the Springboks 27-20 at Emirates Airline Park in Johannesburg on Saturday.
The Kiwis outlasted the men in green-and-gold to take the game away in the last 20 minutes to once against stamp their dominance on world rugby.
The Springboks lead that match for most of the first half thanks to a converted try by Willie le Roux and penalty by Handré Pollard.
However, right on the stroke of half-time, Ben Smith capitalised on the lapse in concentration by the South Africans to take the match into the break at 10 points apiece.
The sensational Jesse Kriel crossed the whitewash with another brilliant try in the 47th minute, to take the ascendancy again, but All Blacks hooker, Dane Coles crashed over after beating several defenders to level the scores once again.
Pollard gave the Boks the lead again in the 57th minute to give the home side hope, but an injury to Toyota Cheetahs lock Lood de Jager seemed to be the game changer going into the final quarter.
Furthermore injuries to Jannie du Plessis and Vincent Koch saw that scrums became uncontested, putting a slight damper on proceedings.
It almost seemed fitting that All Blacks captain, Richie McCaw scored try to give his side the lead in what will almost certainly be him last match on South African soil.
Lima Sopoanga who had a very respectable debut in the famous black jersey slotted a last minute penalty, which also proved to be the final nail in the Springboks coffin.
Despite the loss, coach Heyneke Meyer remains upbeat ahead of the Rugby World Cup in England later this year.
“The guys know they can beat anyone. We came within inches of beating both the Wallabies and All Blacks and that is a massive improvement if you considered where we were just after the Super Rugby competition.
“I know we are inches away from clicking. We produced some brilliant attack at times.
Meyer also praised the Cheetahs duo of De Jager and Heinrich Brüssow, with the latter making his first test appearance in nearly four-years.
“Lood was also really good, considering that it is only his second game of rugby in a long time. He had big shoes to fill in calling the lineouts, and when he left the field, we lost some shape.
“We have some locks like Victor (Matfield) and Pieter Steph du Toit coming back, so I am pleased about that.
The injuries don’t make for good reading at all, with both Koch and Whiteley picking up rib injuries, which the technical staff suspects are broken ribs.
Du Plessis has knee injury while Francois Louw injured his shoulder during a tackle.
The Boks will want to up their game and play 80 minute rugby in two weeks time when they face Argentina at Kings’ Park in Durban.
The Pumas host the Wallabies tomorrow at 00:40 at the Estadio Malvinas Argentinas.
Scorers:
Springboks : Tries – Willie le Roux, Jesse Kriel Conv. – Handré Pollard 2 Pen. – Handré Pollard 1
All Blacks : Tries – Ben Smith, Dane Coles , Richie McCaw Conv. - Lima Sopoanga 3 , Pen. – Lima Sopoanga 1
Morgan Piek / OFM News
