South Africa beat New Zealand 33-26 in Cape Town on Saturday to level the Greatest Rivalry series and reclaim the world's number one ranking. The back-to-back world champions delivered a rousing performance at DHL Stadium, despite a late All Blacks comeback attempt.
Fast start and early scores
Following coach Rassie Erasmus' decision an hour before kick-off to swap his entire starting front-row, South Africa started quickly. A powerful rolling maul into New Zealand's 22 led to centre Jesse Kriel forcing his way over with less than two minutes on the clock.
All Blacks scrum-half Cam Roigard hit back after taking Will Jordan's offload, but Cheslin Kolbe — who was not set to be involved until Thursday — knocked over a penalty to restore the Boks' lead.
Springboks dominate the first half
Centre Damian de Allende extended that lead, crashing over for a score midway through the first half. Damian McKenzie finished off a clinical move for the All Blacks' second score, but the half belonged to South Africa — with captain Siya Kolisi powering over minutes before the break.
Up by 10 points at half-time, South Africa moved further ahead thanks to two more penalties from Kolbe early in the second half.
Late All Blacks fightback falls short
With quarter of an hour left, the All Blacks threatened a comeback, with wing Leroy Carter crossing out wide. A fourth Kolbe penalty left New Zealand needing three scores to win it heading into the final 10 minutes.
All Blacks skipper Ardie Savea managed to get one of those scores, setting up a pulsating ending. A late high tackle by replacement Lood de Jager saw the Springbok replacement yellow-carded with 50 seconds of the Test left. However, South Africa survived one last attacking set to hold on for victory.
The win sees South Africa reclaim their number one spot in the rankings, while also levelling the four-Test series with two more left to play.
