SA Rugby
The historic 100th Test match between the Springboks and the All Blacks went down to the wire in Townsville on Saturday as New Zealand sneaked a last-gasp win.
It really was heartbreak for a much improved Springboks outfit as the All Blacks edged a brutal encounter between these two great rivals 19-17 in front of a packed house in Townsville.
Bok head coach Jacques Nienaber and captain Siya Kolisi applauded the effort of their team in Saturday's Castle Lager Rugby Championship match against the All Blacks and said the result could have gone their way.
“The closeness of the winning margin was expected,” said Nienaber.
“When the number one and number two teams in the world play each other, there is always going to be small margins and recent results since 2018 have shown that as well.
Kolisi said they had the belief that they could beat New Zealand, and said that he feels the Boks’ next victory is not far off.
“We had a plan we believed will do that and it worked,” said Kolisi.
Both sides scored their only try of the match in the first half and ultimately the difference between the two teams was a 77th minute penalty by Jordie Barrett.
The lead had changed several times in the second half and ultimately it was New Zealand who did just enough to secure a famous win on a night in which there really was very little to choose between the two teams.
New Zealand had led 13-11 at halftime.
