Ardie Savea grabbed a match-winning turnover in his 100th Test match to allow the All Blacks to emerge victorious in a pulsating battle with the Springboks, who found the Eden Park fortress still impregnable.
The Springboks came agonisingly close to at least grabbing a draw but Savea got his hands onto the ball in the shadow of his own posts and the entire New Zealand nation exhaled in relief. Savea has so often set the standard for the team and he was at his combative best against a Springboks team that had the edge at the scrum, but left themselves too much to do after trailing 14-3 at half time.
Of course they came back hard in the second half after clearing their replacements bench, but the All Blacks had enough to hold out and take their unbeaten run at Eden Park to 51 matches, stretching back to 1994.
On the day he became a centurion, Savea produced a match-winning turnover
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Savea, who celebrated the turnover shouting “my house” said: “It was a gutsy performance. I’m just proud of the boys’ efforts, we knew the Springboks were going to come here and give it to us.
“I just had to stand up for the brothers. For me, I just try to anticipate things and do what the team needs me to do. It’s as simple as that.”
After his heroics, Savea was presented with his silver 100th cap by his wife Saskia. He added: “To my family… I wouldn’t be here today if it wasn’t for you guys. I’m standing on the shoulders of you guys. Every young person in this crowd, this is for you.”
Jesse Kriel, the Springboks captain, paid tribute to Savea and said: “Full credit to New Zealand, I thought they were really good and it was a special way to celebrate an awesome player for them in Ardie.
“We obviously weren’t up to scratch, way too many handling errors and things that just weren’t up to standard for us.”
Another score for Jordan, his 43rd in 47 Tests, brings him closer to the all-time All Blacks record of 49
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The All Blacks were indebted to the athletic work of Tupou Vaa’i, particularly in the first half, with their pack able to contest strongly at the breakdown throughout. Cobus Reinach made an impact as a replacement scrum half for South Africa, who will need to bounce back immediately before they face New Zealand again in Wellington next weekend.
A squall signalled the start of what was always going to be a torrid battle but with just a minute played the All Blacks delivered a try straight out of their pre-match play-book. Quick lineout ball was moved to Beauden Barrett, whose pinpoint cross-kick picked out Emoni Narawa on the right wing. With the Springboks blitz defence tight in midfield, it left Willie Le Roux as the only man who could tackle the wing who, after catching the ball low, slid through the full back’s legs, got back to his feet and then dummied an inside pass to score a well worked try; which Barrett converted.
It was a statement of intent from the All Blacks who had done their homework on the opposition’s defensive structure. After Narawa was forced off with a rib injury just six minutes in to be replaced by Damian McKenzie, the home side punished a loose Springbok kick with Barrett firing a 50-22 kick downfield. The lineout throw went over the top to Wallace Sititi who gave a no-look pass inside to the dangerous Will Jordan. The wing evaded Malcolm Marx’s tackle and scored his 43rd try for his country, with McKenzie converting.
Narawa scored the opening try, but was taken off after only six minutes
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The kick-heavy Springboks attacking plan was moving them upfield but the wet conditions made catching the ball a lottery, although the resulting scrums did allow the visitors to show their power. It brought a penalty which Handrè Pollard kicked for their only points of a half dominated by ferociously contested breakdowns and clever work by the All Blacks to disrupt the Springboks lineout.
The All Blacks continued to pressure the Springboks ball carriers and McKenzie kicked a penalty as Rassie Erasmus started to use his replacements bench in a bid to change their attacking dynamic. It produced a massive scrum drive against the head that put Kwagga Smith within touching distance of the line, and the rest of the forwards piled in. Hooker Marx crashed over a few phases later with Pieter-Steph du Toit adding extra power to the drive.
A moment of genius from Reinach brought the Springboks to within seven points
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The All Blacks turned down a kickable penalty from the subsequent kick-off, and opted for the lineout with their driving play winning another penalty, and a yellow card for Smith for cynical play at the breakdown. The All Blacks hammered away at the line and eventually it was moved out to replacement Quinn Tupaea who crashed over near the posts, with McKenzie’s conversion bringing a sudden halt to the Springbok fightback.
Despite the scoreline the Springboks refused to give up hope of ending the All Blacks record at Eden Park and a clever kick from Damian de Allende forced the home side to concede a five-metre scrum by carrying the ball back over their own tryline. The forwards drove hard enough to fracture the All Blacks defence, and replacement scrum half Reinach forced his way over and grounded the ball, with Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu converting to make it a seven-point game again with six minutes remaining.
The Springboks came again and a high tackle created an attacking lineout and Savea won a turnover just a few metres out from the All Blacks tryline to ensure a hard-fought win to add to the long Eden Park list. The Springboks will need to shore up their suspect lineout in Wellington if they are to avoid becoming also-rans in the Rugby Championship, as they now lag five points the All Blacks and behind Australia.
This was South Africa’s first game at Eden Park since 2013
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The Wallabies are in second place thanks to a last-gasp 28-24 win over Argentina in Townsville to confirm their position as the comeback kings of world rugby. They turned down the chance to kick for a draw to hammer away at the Pumas line and Angus Bell crashed over to reward their refusal to share the spoils.
Star man: Ardie Savea (New Zealand).
Scorers: New Zealand: Tries: Narawa (1min), Jordan (16), Tupaea (66). Cons: J Barrett, McKenzie 2. Pen: McKenzie (50) South Africa: Tries: Marx (61), Reinach (73). Cons: Feinberg-Mngomezulu 2. Pen: Pollard (22).
New Zealand W Jordan; E Narawa (D McKenzie 6), B Proctor (Barrett 71), J Barrett (Q Tupaea 59), R Ioane; B Barrett, F Christie (K Preston 67); E de Groot (T Williams 40), C Taylor (S Taukei’aho 31), F Newell (T Lomax 45); S Barrett (capt), T Vaa’i; S Parker (F Holland 67), A Savea, W Sititi (D Kirifi 72).
South Africa W Le Roux (S Feinberg-Mngomezulu 47), C Kolbe, J Kriel (capt), D de Allende (H Pollard 74), C Moodie, H Pollard (E Hooker 58), G Williams (C Reinach 47); O Nche (B Venter 67), M Marx (J Wessels 67) T du Toit (W Louw 61), E Etzebeth, R Nortje (L de Jager 50), M van Staden, P-S du Toit, S Kolisi (K Smith 51, sin bin 64-74).
Referee K Dickson (RFU). Attendance 48,312.