Springboks hold the line for epic win

WELLINGTON: Winger Aphiwe Dyantyi scored two tries as the Springboks upset the form book to record a 3634 victory over New Zealand and send a World Cup message in an enthralling clash at Wellington Regional Stadium on Saturday.

It was the first loss by the All Blacks to the Springboks in New Zealand since 2009, and the first by Steve Hansen’s side in the Rugby Championship since they were beaten 2719 by Australia in 2015.

‘‘It is unbelievable for us to beat New Zealand in New Zealand,’’ Springboks coach Rassie Erasmus told reporters after the nailbiting contest.

‘‘It gives us hope for the World Cup,’’ he added.

‘‘We see New Zealand as the benchmark, but in three weeks’ time when we run out at Loftus [in Pretoria] we know they will be fuming.’’

The Springboks had been given little chance before the match, having lost their previous two games and facing an All Blacks side averaging more than 40 points a game in the Rugby Championship.

Instead Steve Hansen’s side found themselves under immense pressure for long periods, as the Springboks fed off their mistakes to score five tries, and tackled themselves to a standstill.

That defensive effort was especially evident in the last quarter, with Willie Le Roux in the sinbin for 10 of the final 12 minutes for a professional foul.

‘‘It’s an awesome day for the team and an awesome day for South Africa,’’ Springboks captain Siya Kolisi said.

‘‘We wanted to do it for each other today. Even if it went their way we wanted to walk off the field and look each other in the eye and say ‘I’m proud of you’.’’

The match had begun as many expected it would, with Handre Pollard starting the game by kicking the ball dead and immediately placing his side under pressure.

The All Blacks capitalised and established a 120 lead through tries to Jordie Barrett and Aaron Smith before the Springboks got into the game.

They pounced on All Black errors and scored three unanswered tries to Dyantyi, Willie le Roux and Malcolm Marx to go into the break with 2417 lead, which they extended two minutes into the second half when Cheslin Kolbe intercepted an Anton LienertBrown pass.

The world champions then began to dominate for long periods of the game, and despite being 3624 down when Dyantyi scored his second, they came storming back when Codie Taylor and Ardie Savea crossed to set up the nailbiting finish.

Despite being virtually camped on the Springboks’ line, however, they were unable to breach the green wall, eschewed the opportunity of a drop goal and were denied when le Roux forced Damian McKenzie to lose the ball in a tackle.

The loss kept the southern hemisphere championship alive until at least the fifth round of games in two weeks’ time.

‘‘You’ve got to give them all the credit in the world the way they defended in that second half,’’ All Blacks captain Kieran Read said.

‘‘We threw everything at them, my boys kept working hard but the South Africans defended outstandingly well and obviously deserved their win.’’ — Reuters