The All Blacks produced a sensational last-gasp effort at the death to deny the Springboks as they ran out 32-30 winners in the final 2018 Rugby Championship Test at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria.
For most of the way the Boks looked like they were likely to repeat their Wellington heroics and six minutes from the end, it like that way, as they led 30-18 on Saturday.
But, two converted tries at the end sounded the death knell for the Boks as the All Blacks showed why they are the world's No 1 ranked team. They enjoyed an eventual 4-3 try count over the Boks in what was termed as a 'dead rubber'.
A monster 55m penalty by hometown boy Handré Pollard in the 4th minute raised the flags to a huge roar by the Loftus faithful as South Africa took a 3-0 lead and he later extended that 6-0.
The All Blacks opened their score through a 25th-minute penalty by flyhalf Beauden Barrett just at the same when there was a momentum shift in the game (6-3).
Barrett equalised scores n the 35th minute with his second penalty just after he was wide with an attempted drop goal (6-6).
The Boks closed out the half very strongly as they produced a multi-phase surge in the opposition 22m area but they lost the ball 10m out as the All Blacks defence stood firm.
The Boks got off to a glorious start in the second half after Malcolm Marx made a turn-over and soon afterwards centre Jesse Kriel intervened with great authority as he rounded off a fine backline move with a show of strength as he burst through tackling attempts.
Pollard added the extras as the Boks took the lead for the second time n the match 14-6.
The jubilant crowd had hardly stopped cheering the 7-pointer when Polland added to the All Blacks woes with another long-range penalty in the 47th minute (17-6).
In the play that followed both sets of defences leaked tries n the space of three minutes.
In the end, the All Blacks had some 14 minutes playing time left to undo the Boks' 12-point cushion but they did just that with converted tries by lock Scott Barrett and Ardie Savea as the scoreboard moved from 30-18 to 32-30 to round out the Springboks' heartbreaking defeat.
Scorers: South Africa 30 (6): Tries: Jesse Kriel, Damian de Allende, Cheslin Kolbe. Conversions: Handré Pollard (3). Penalties: Pollard (3)
New Zealand 1 (6): Tries: Aaron Smith, Rieko Ioane, Scott Barrett, Ardie Savea Conversions: Richie Mo’unga. Penalties: Beauden Barrett (2)
– African News Agency (ANA)
