Springboks edge All Blacks 29-24 in Soweto to lead series 2-1

South Africa beat New Zealand 29-24 at Soccer City in Soweto on Saturday to take a 2-1 lead in the Greatest Rivalry series, coming from 17-12 down in the second half to win a third Test that swung on set-piece power and a late surge.

As BBC News Africa reported on 5 September, the Springboks came on strong in the final quarter to overpower a New Zealand side that had led for much of the match. A crowd of 85,976 watched it.

South Africa scored four tries through Kurt-Lee Arendse, a penalty try, Jesse Kriel and Malcolm Marx, with Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu adding two conversions and a penalty. New Zealand replied with two tries from Ardie Savea and one each from Will Jordan and Samisoni Taukei’aho.

The teams traded two tries each in a tight first half. Feinberg-Mngomezulu was shown a yellow card for knocking down an Ardie Savea offload, and from the resulting penalty New Zealand worked Savea over from a short-range line-out. Cheslin Kolbe had already left the field with a head knock.

South Africa answered through Arendse in the 21st minute after Damian de Allende shrugged off Leroy Carter and fed him out wide, but Savea scored again soon after to put New Zealand 12-5 up. The Springbok front row of Marx, Wilco Louw and Ox Nche then forced a penalty try that levelled the scores at 12-12 at the break.

New Zealand’s coach Dave Rennie had accused the South African front row of walking around their opposite numbers in the second Test in Cape Town the previous weekend. The third Test answered that in the most direct way available to a pack, with scrum pressure at the heart of the home side’s control of the second half.

Jordan chased his own kick ahead and crossed in the 55th minute to put New Zealand 17-12 up, but Kriel barged through Carter two minutes later to put South Africa ahead in the match for the first time. Marx then plunged over at the back of a driving maul, and Feinberg-Mngomezulu converted and added a 70th-minute penalty to push the lead to 26-17. Taukei’aho’s try on the final play narrowed the margin but could not change the result.

New Zealand lost captain Ardie Savea to a shoulder injury in the first half. Savea had scored two of his side’s four tries before he went off.

Before kick-off, Springbok captain Siya Kolisi called on his team to honour those who died in nearby Soweto during the fight against apartheid. Soccer City sits in the middle of that history, and the crowd went through its songbook in the closing stages, including the Cranberries-inspired tribute to head coach Rassie Erasmus.

The result means South Africa need only avoid defeat in the fourth and final Test in the American city of Baltimore next weekend to take the series. New Zealand, who won the opening match, need a win there to snatch a draw.

New Zealand have won a series on South African soil only once before, when the Incomparables of 1996 returned with a 2-1 victory. That record now rests on one match in the United States.

Source: BBC News Africa, South Africa finish strongly to take 2-1 series lead against All Blacks