Share

Classy All Blacks hit Boks for 50 in Durban

Cape Town - The All Blacks outclassed the Springboks to win 57-15 at Kings Park on Saturday night as the curtain came down on a disappointing Rugby Championship campaign for coach Allister Coetzee's men. 

As it happened: Springboks v All Blacks - Durban

With the crowd behind them in a big way, the Boks gave it all they could, but in the end they conceded 9 tries without scoring any - the difference in pedigree between the two sides there for all to see.

The Boks were up for it initially, making some big hits in the early stages as the All Blacks made a few uncharacteristic routine errors.  

But as the game progressed, it was the All Blacks doing all of the running. 

At half time, the statistics were scary. 

The Boks had missed 16 tackles while the All Blacks missed 0, the All Blacks had made 71 carries to South Africa's 16 and the visitors had enjoyed 72% of the possession. 

South Africa were always going to rely heavily on the boot of Morne Steyn, and they were ahead after just 5 minutes when the flyhalf slotted a penalty from over 45m.

Steyn extended the Bok lead to 6-0 with another penalty on 18 minutes, but the hosts had received a blow before then when the injured Francois Louw was replaced by Jaco Kriel. 

The All Blacks had their first try on 22 minutes. 

Missed first time tackles from the Boks deep in the All Black half had cost them, but they had defended valiantly on their own line holding off the onslaught for as long as possible. 

In the end the relentless pressure proved too much as the world champions used quick hands to release Israel Dagg, who dotted down in the right corner. 

Beauden Barrett didn't have the best day with the boot as his missed conversion left the Boks 6-5 ahead. 

Another brilliant Steyn penalty, this time from out right and distance, extended the lead to 9-5. 

The All Blacks' second try was a controversial moment in the Test. 

TJ Perenara, in for the suspended Aaron Smith, darted over from close range but replays suggested that he may have lost the ball forward. 

After a long look, TMO Jim Yuille of Scotland awarded the try and the All Blacks were 12-9 up. 

The All Blacks thought they had scored on the stroke of half time, but this time Yuille adjudged that Kieran Read had obstructed the run of lock Brodie Retallick.

Somehow, the Boks were just three points behind at the break. 

The second half did not start well for the hosts, either, and New Zealand had their third try within five minutes of the restart. 

It was Dagg again, capitalising on quick hands from Barrett. 

But the All Black flyhalf missed an easy conversion to minimise the damage for the Boks, who trailed 17-9 at that stage. 

The response was good from the Boks and another Steyn penalty, again from over 45m, got the them back in at 17-12. 

Just as the Kings Park faithful was beginning to believe again, the Boks gifted the All Blacks their fourth try through an error from Pat Lambie. 

The Boks were looking to exit their 22 and swung the ball wide to their fullback, who saw his kick charged down before Barrett collected and dotted down. 

Barrett again missed the conversion, but at 22-12 it began to look a tall order for the Boks. 

Steyn narrowed the gap to make it 22-15, but the wheels were about to come off. 

Just after that, on the hour mark, the All Blacks had their fifth try when Ben Smith recovered a high bomb. 

Perenara was on hand to finish off the move with his second of the night, Barrett converted and the All Blacks were 29-15 ahead. 

At that stage, it was five All Black tries to five Springbok penalties, but it wasn't over yet. 

Barrett used his ridiculous speed down the left to break and score under the posts, before substitute hooker Codie Taylor scored from the back of a rolling maul to make it 7-0 in the tries department. 

And, when the Boks would have thought that it couldn't get worse, it did. 

Barrett was again instrumental, stopped just short of the line before he popped it up to Ben Smith for try number eight.

After a streaker had provided a moment of brief entertainment for the crowd, it was back to reality as substitute Liam Squire scored in the left corner to cap off a woeful night for South African rugby.

Scorers:

South Africa 15 (9)

Penalties: Morne Steyn (5)

New Zealand 57 (12)

Tries: Israel Dagg (2), TJ Perenara (2), Beauden Barrett (2), Codie Taylor, Ben Smith, Liam Squire

Conversions: Beauden Barrett (3), Lima Sopoaga (3)

Teams

South Africa

15 Pat Lambie, 14 Francois Hougaard, 13 Juan de Jongh, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Morne Steyn, 9 Faf de Klerk, 8 Warren Whiteley, 7 Oupa Mohoje, 6 Francois Louw, 5 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Vincent Koch, 2 Adriaan Strauss (captain), 1 Tendai Mtawarira

Substitutes: 16 Bongi Mbonambi, 17 Steven Kitshoff, 18 Julian Redelinghuys, 19 Lood de Jager, 20 Willem Alberts, 21 Jaco Kriel, 22 Lionel Mapoe,23 Willie le Roux

New Zealand

15 Ben Smith, 14 Israel Dagg, 13 Anton Lienert-Brown, 12 Ryan Crotty, 11 Waisake Naholo, 10 Beauden Barrett, 9 TJ Perenara, 8 Kieran Read (captain), 7 Matt Todd, 6 Jerome Kaino, 5 Sam Whitelock, 4 Brodie Retallick, 3 Owen Franks, 2 Dane Coles, 1 Joe Moody

Substitutes: 16 Codie Taylor, 17 Wyatt Crockett, 18 Charlie Faumuina, 19 Liam Squire, 20 Ardie Savea, 21 Tawera Kerr-Barlow, 22 Lima Sopoaga, 23 George Moala

We live in a world where facts and fiction get blurred
Who we choose to trust can have a profound impact on our lives. Join thousands of devoted South Africans who look to News24 to bring them news they can trust every day. As we celebrate 25 years, become a News24 subscriber as we strive to keep you informed, inspired and empowered.
Join News24 today
heading
description
username
Show Comments ()
Voting Booth
Should Siya Kolisi keep the captaincy as the Springboks build towards their World Cup title defence in 2027?
Please select an option Oops! Something went wrong, please try again later.
Results
Yes! Siya will only be 36 at the next World Cup. He can make it!
26% - 1273 votes
No! I think the smart thing to do is start again with a younger skipper ...
29% - 1470 votes
I'd keep Siya captain for now, but look to have someone else for 2027.
45% - 2249 votes
Vote
Editorial feedback and complaints

Contact the public editor with feedback for our journalists, complaints, queries or suggestions about articles on News24.

LEARN MORE