Carter repeats Wellington wizardry to quell Boks

Dan Carter kicks a penalty goal. Ross Land / Getty Images

All Blacks 35 South Africa 17

All Blacks first five-eighth Daniel Carter returned to the scene of his spectacular Lions slaying to lead a 35-17 Tri-Nations rugby quelling of the hard-hitting Springboks at Westpac Stadium tonight.

It took two moments of Carter genius and a robotic goalkicking display to take the fight out of the South Africans, who played with more passion than last week's 0-49 humiliation against Australia but paid again for indiscipline and couldn't match the accuracy of the hosts.

A try after 18 seconds to Springboks halfback Fourie du Preez gave some hope that one of the great reversals in rugby history could unfold.

However, apart from a second try to winger Breyton Paulse midway through the second half, they were toothless on attack, relying largely on a bruising approach to defence and the breakdown.

They weren't helped by three missed penalty shots by fullback Percy Montgomery.

Conversely Carter landed all nine of his chances, including seven penalties, mostly from long range and all manner of angles for a 25-point haul.

He was also faultless on defence and made breaks from nowhere for their two tries, including the match-shaping try to halfback Piri Weepu on the stroke of halftime to open up a 19-7 lead.

Carter's performance was almost as influential as in last year's 48-18 second test rout of the Lions at the same ground, a display hailed as among the best in test rugby by an individual player.

However, the All Blacks' overall performance was far from as dazzling. They shared the tryscoring honours two-all and only managed to win the second half 13-10.

While the Springboks have suffered two heavy defeats, the All Blacks have opened the Tri-Nations with two home wins but are sure to face their toughest challenge against the Wallabies in Brisbane next weekend.

The All Blacks tonight couldn't match the panache shown by Australia last week, struggling to win clean lineout ball and smooth possession at the breakdown in the face of their physical opposites.

They weren't helped by stop-start nature of the game and, possibly, the eight changes from their 32-12 opening defeat of the Wallabies.

After going scoreless last week, du Preez put the Springboks 7-0 up when he charged down Carter's first punt of the night, touching the loose ball down to silence a sellout crowd of 38,500.

The All Blacks slowly ground their way back, finding it hard to create line breaks against the tenacious visitors.

However, the boot of Carter capitalised regularly on South African indiscretions, particularly at the breakdown where French referee Joel Jutge found them regularly offside.

Carter kicked penalties in the sixth, 21st, 25th and 32nd minutes before stamping his mark in the last play of the half. He fielded a missed kick for touch inside on halfway, left du Preez grasping with a sidestep before setting centre Mils Muliana clear.


Muliaina linked with winger Scott Hamilton, whose pass was misdirected but was scooped up by a scampering Weepu 10m out from the tryline.

Carter added two more penalties within 12 minutes of the restart but the Springboks breathed some life back into their night with a memorable try to Paulse.

Du Preez, the visitors' best along with lock Victor Matfield, directed a flat punt almost directly across-field which a flying Paulse snaffled on the first bounce.

Montgomery landed a penalty but Carter struck back with one of his own and had the final say in the 77th minute with a chip and regather, sharp acceleration and infield pass which put captain Richie McCaw over. Carter landed the sideline conversion.

"It was a bit of bad luck, but to everyone's credit we got back and started again," skipper McCaw said of the early set-back after du Preez scored.

"We didn't panic, and it was a tough test match. In pivotal parts of the match they put us under pressure, we made a few mistakes, and it was good old test match.

"We knew in the first 10 minutes they would come out and obviously try and bury last week, and they certainly did that.

"We wanted to play down their end of the field. They forced a few mistakes, but to our credit we took the penalties and opportunities we got."

South Africa captain John Smit said tonight's match was a big improvement on last week's thumping.

"The boys came out playing a lot better. We made less mistakes, but the mistakes we made, the All Blacks capitalised.

"They got a sniff and made it count everytime they got into our half. Our guys played a lot better, but there's more from us to come."

New Zealand 35 (Piri Weepu, Richie McCaw tries; Daniel Carter 7 pen, 2 con)
South Africa 17 (Fourie du Preez, Breyton Paulse tries; Percy Montgomery pen, 2 con).
HT: 19-7.

- NZPA