Springboks shook the All Blacks in a nail-biting rugby championship test match

JOHANNESBURG- The Springboks beat the All Blacks at Ellis Park for the first time since 2013 in a frenetically paced and energy-sapping rugby championship test match in Johannesburg.

Replacements Kwagga Smith and Grant Williams scored tries in the last 10 minutes of the nail-biting game to secure a 31-27 victory.

The opening exchanges of the match were a test of the world champions’ defensive capabilities as the visitors dominated possession and camped inside the Boks’ 22. Wave after wave of sustained pressure eventually told as fullback, Aphelele Fassi, who had made 2 excellent tackles before, was yellow carded for a last-ditch high tackle. New Zealand mauled their way to the try line and took a 7-0 lead thanks to Codie Taylor’s try from the resulting penalty.

The deafening noise from the sold-out Ellis Park crowd spurred the Boks on they managed to get on the board 10 minutes later as hooker Bongi Mbonambi barreled his way over to cut the lead to 2 points.

South Africa took the lead for the first time on the half-hour mark when Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu converted a monstrous penalty from 10 metres inside his own half to give the Boks a 1-point advantage. All Black wing Caleb Clarke scored out wide with 7-minutes left before another Feinberg Mngomezulu saw the All Blacks take a 12-11 lead to the half-time break.

New Zealand began the second half with an incredible show of intent as Jordie Barrett scored in the first minute to stretch their advantage to before a couple of SA penalties and Clarke’s second try of the game saw the All Blacks lead 27-17 after 52 minutes.

The famed bomb squad had the desired effect for the Boks in the 2nd half as they were able to stem the flow of points. The momentum turned in the 68th minute when replacement prop Ofa Tuʻungafasi was sin-binned in the 68th minute for collapsing a promising Bok maul 5 metres from the try line before Smith scored under the posts from the penalty and line out that followed.

Williams sealed South Africa’s 3rd consecutive win against the All Blacks in the 75th minute with his try that also sees the Boks take an 8-point lead over New Zealand on the rugby championship table ahead of the next meeting between these two sides in Cape Town next weekend.