All Blacks 24
Springboks 17
By Liam Napier at Eden Park
Fortress Eden Park preserved. Ardie Savea’s century celebrated. Job done, with some serious jitters, for Scott Robertson’s All Blacks.
Fuelled by their first loss in Argentina and resuming the game’s greatest rivalry, the All Blacks embraced this emotive occasion to protect the greatest single-venue record in test rugby history – but not before some late drama and a nervous, frantic finish.
This wasn’t just another test match. The All Blacks had their backs pressed to the wall and with the world champions arriving in town, with their whole season geared around breaking the fortress, Auckland was gripped by rugby in a feeling akin to a World Cup final.
After four straight losses to the Springboks, nerves were high outside All Blacks camp.
How would Robertson’s All Blacks, who appeared to be very much finding their feet in the highly competitive test landscape, handle the hype, pressure, and expectation enveloping this blockbuster challenge?
Well, the All Blacks started superbly and led the entire match but they left the door ajar late with the Springboks giving themselves multiple chances to steal a great heist at the death.
The All Blacks led 17-3 and 24-10 in the second half but they could never pull beyond reach.
Momentum threatened to turn midway through the second half when the Springboks summoned a massive scrum to shunt the All Blacks off their ball and set up a try for Malcolm Marx.
From the kickoff, though, the Boks were pinged for obstruction – one of many in the match. The All Blacks turned down a shot at goal and eventually Quinn Tupaea powered his way over for what should have been the decisive strike.
And, yet, the job was still not complete.
Replacement Springboks halfback Cobus Reinach scored with seven minutes remaining to spark an engrossing finish.
Savea, fittingly, gained a penalty on his own line but there was more drama to come with the Springboks snaffling a turnover as the All Blacks were poised to kick the ball in to touch to clinch the game.
The Boks ultimately couldn’t find the killer punch, with scrambling All Blacks defence propelling them to their first victory over South Africa since mid-2023.
Few could suggest the All Blacks didn’t deserve to prevail but test rugby doesn’t always work that way. Every victory is hard-earned. This was no different, with the forward pack meeting the Springboks’ physicality head on.
In the context of their season, the importance of this win cannot be understated for Robertson’s men. Suffering successive losses, particularly at a venue as sacred as Eden Park, would have seen the walls cave in.
The All Blacks weren’t entirely convincing but they were never going to win every moment against the Boks. They largely improved their discipline and high ball work.
With the rematch in Wellington next week looming, the All Blacks should harness confidence to further improve and back up this result.
Ferocious collisions and tension that typifies these colossal contests were prevalent throughout but in wet, slippery conditions a box-kickathon was widely evident too.
The All Blacks, intent on not playing inside their own half to deny the Boks easy access to kickable points, gave as good as they got in the frequent kicking exchanges.
South African fans gathered at bus stops three hours before kickoff and flooded through the gates as soon as they opened to make their presence felt among the animated 48,312 crowd but they only came to life in the second spell as the Boks launched their comeback.
The All Blacks couldn’t have asked for a better start as Beauden Barrett pushed a cross-field kick to Emoni Narawa who, after initially diving to gather the ball, regained his feet and sold a dummy to claim the opening try.
Unfortunately for Narawa, he left soon after through injury which injected Damian McKenzie to fullback and switched Will Jordan to the wing.
In a typically brutal contest, Codie Taylor also departed with a head knock while Wallace Sititi, who performed strongly from No 8, and Jordie Barrett also had head injury assessments.
The All Blacks lineout was far from flawless, with South Africa pinching one clean steal and miscommunication botching another, but they also pressured the Springboks’ ball and executed a clutch set piece move by throwing long to Sititi who sent Jordan over with an inside ball for their second try.
Defensively the All Blacks brought intent, line speed and aggression. Scott Barrett and Tupou Vaa’i pressured Springboks halfback Grant Williams’ box kicks all night to notably rattle his game.
The All Blacks expertly shut down one Rassie Erasmus special, an attempted lifting maul by flooding the Boks pack with defenders to force an error.
Maybe it was the occasion or Eden Park but the Boks produced a series of errors.
From a scrum penalty to Marx being pinged for delaying his lineout throw, Handre Pollard spraying one shot off the tee and Williams dropping off the top ball he would usually swallow in his sleep, the visitors butchered several attacking chances in the All Blacks’ red zone.
The Boks regained more composure in the second half as they chased the game but they were well short of their best.
From an individual standpoint, Simon Parker, in his second test and first start, delivered a strong defensive presence after switching from No 8 to blindside flanker and Sititi was prominent with ball in hand but in a largely tight, combative contest, this was a team effort from the All Blacks.
Beautiful it was not, but every win over the Springboks is to be treasured.
All Blacks 24 (Emoni Narawa, Will Jordan, Quinn Tupaea tries; Damian McKenzie 2 cons, pen, Jordie Barrett con)
Springboks 17 (Malcolm Marx, Cobus Reinach tries; Handre Pollard pen, Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu 2 cons)
HT: 14-3
Liam Napier is a Senior Sports Journalist and Rugby Correspondent for the New Zealand Herald. He is a co-host of the Rugby Direct podcast.