South Africa 30
New Zealand 28
KEY POINTS:
They are the World Cup holders and finally, after a decade of despairing deficiency, the Springboks were able to claim a victory against the All Blacks in New Zealand.
They deserved the victory and would have left yesterday for their next Tri-Nations task against the Wallabies in Perth, feeling extremely relieved they did not blow this Carisbrook test. It was close though and it required a moment of inspiration from halfback Ricky Januarie to dust off the demons.
The smallest player on the park nearly inspired the Boks to win at the same venue three years ago when test rugby was last hosted in Dunedin. That time the Boks succumbed when All Blacks hooker Keven Mealamu scored four minutes from time.
On Saturday, as 29,136 spectators watched test rugby return to the same venue, Januarie reversed the fortunes with his snipe, chip and regather routine for a superb late solo try, converted by Francois Steyn.
It was a superb piece of individual brilliance from the Springbok halfback to counter the sinbinning of his captain Victor Matfield a few minutes earlier.
That decision by the erratic referee Matt Goddard, looked to have consigned the Boks to the beaten ranks in New Zealand like every other Bok side which has visited since 1998.
With an extra man the All Blacks led 28-23 and appeared to have survived the onslaught.
Then, from a ruck, Januarie speared past replacement forwards Mealamu and Neemia Tialata, chipped another replacement Leon MacDonald, regathered and flung himself across the line in an exultant swandive.
The Boks were the better team in this test but made extra hard work of their surge to victory.
They outscored their hosts two tries to one but conceded 23 points to Daniel Carter's boot as referee Goddard discovered all sorts of misdemeanours, especially in the staccato first half, until he calmed down a shade.
When Goddard blew time, new Bok supremo Peter de Villiers bashed his coaching bench to show the relief the Springboks felt in finally erasing their shabby record in New Zealand in the last decade. It had been close, the Boks had almost handed the match to the All Blacks before Januarie retrieved the result.
This was an All Black side ready for the taking, shorn of so much experience that when senior lock Ali Williams wandered off with blurred vision to be replaced on debut by Kevin O'Neill, five members of the pack totalled 19 caps among them.
They coped fairly well, the scrum was still more potent than the visitors', they had twice the ruck possession and forced the Boks into double the All Black tackle count.
But the Boks dominated the lineouts where they nicked a third of the All Black throws, had a better scrambling defence, mauled strongly and made more of their attacking chances.
They came to the test as a chastened group after their opening defeat in Wellington.
Coach de Villiers had been distracted by a war of words, he was justifiably fidgety about the referee and was coping with murmurs about his credentials to coach at the highest level.
"The guys showed a lot of character, we took a lot of planning into this game and it paid off," Matfield said.
There was no crowing from de Villiers, just satisfaction he had overseen the Boks first win in eight trips to Carisbrook since 1921.
"I've got nothing to prove. If I believe in myself, if I believe in my players, if I believe in my god ... I don't need people around me," de Villiers said.
"Everybody has got an opinion and we respect their opinions but it doesn't mean we agree with their opinion. If we can stand up like we did today as a group, people will change their own opinions."
Somehow All Black coach Graham Henry thought the test was a "fabulous" game of rugby where the All Blacks played their best half of rugby this season. He was proud of his young side and they would be better for the experience.
For the All Blacks they suffered the latter, their first failure in five matches this season. It is not the end of the world but they do have some work to do.
Some players are not firing. Apparently Sitiveni Sivivatu strained a muscle in his backside but he was ineffective again, Andy Ellis could not command the ruck area and lacked protection while the balance of the loose forwards with the left-right duo of Adam Thomson and Rodney So'oialo does not seem right.
No 8 Jerome Kaino appeared to be handling the match before he was replaced by Sione Lauaki who scored a thunderous try but did not back that up with any workrate.
There were similar stuttering performances from Mealamu and Tialata when they came on - neither looks as sharp as they might be.
In profit though is the backline, Daniel Carter, Conrad Smith, Rudi Wulf and Mils Muliaina who might have been the pick of the bunch. While Carter can be dazzling and showed some of his peerless touches again (imagine the blowout without him) Muliaina and Smith are quality, mistake-free footballers.
Had the All Blacks shifted more possession towards that super reliable duo, defeat might have been averted. It was that close, in much the way the Tri-Nations looms as that sort of series this season.
