SA Rugby
The Springboks won an epic 101st test match against great rival New Zealand 31-29 on the Gold Coast on Saturday.
The All Blacks had led 20-14 at half time.
It marked the end of this season’s Castle Lager Rugby Championship, which had already been claimed by the All Blacks prior to kick off, but was an incredibly rewarding win for South Africa.
Jacques Nienaber’s men had lost their three previous encounters in the competition prior to Saturday’s blockbuster and were under massive pressure to arrest the slide.
Replacement flyhalf Elton Jantjies produced a moment of magic with a superb drop goal in the final five minutes to nudge the Boks ahead – only for Jordie Barrett to put the All Blacks back in front with a penalty seconds after the restart.
In the final minute of the game, the Springboks secured a massive penalty in their own ten yard area and Frans Steyn punted a huge kick downfield for a make-or-break final lineout.
The 80 minute siren sounded in that moment and it was the All Blacks who panicked, and conceded an off-sides penalty in front of the posts.
Jantjies did not even flinch, taking the penalty with minimal fuss and banging the ball through the posts to give the Springboks a famous victory.
It was a colossal effort by the Boks who to man left everything on the field and sent their long-suffering fans into raptures back home.
Speaking after the match, Bok coach, Nienaber said the win over New Zealand in the final Castle Lager Rugby Championship match of 2021 will provide some valuable momentum for South Africa during the forthcoming November Tests and beyond.
“We were 20 seconds away from winning in that first game against Australia and two minutes away from victory against New Zealand last weekend."
“This time around, we got the crucial points in the last play of the match, that is how tight it was. There was a lot of noise from the outside and some justified critical comments amongst that," he said.
