All Blacks Defeat Springboks In Greatest Rivalry Series Opener At Ellis Park

The All Blacks set the tone emphatically, outscoring the Springboks five tries to one as they secured a convincing 33-16 victory at a raucous Ellis Park in the opening match of the Greatest Rivalry Series.

A titanic battle ensued, with an engrossing first half that ebbed and flowed before the Springboks seized control in the latter stages, turning the screw on their fierce rivals.

Ultimately, however, it was the All Blacks who found another gear, producing a decisive second-half surge to bring the contest to a resounding conclusion.

A packed Ellis Park rose to welcome Damian de Allende onto the field as the Springbok centre earned his 100th Test cap, becoming only the 10th player in South African rugby history to reach the prestigious milestone. He was greeted by a rousing ovation from the home crowd.

In Siya Kolisi’s absence, Pieter-Steph du Toit led the Springboks onto the field before the anthems were sung. The packed crowd then rose to its feet and stood in respectful silence as the All Blacks performed the haka.

Ferocious tackling from the Boks defined the early exchanges as they sought to impose their physical dominance on their fierce rivals.

The Springboks won an early penalty but lost the resulting attacking lineout. South Africa, however, quickly regained possession in the red zone and were awarded another penalty.

They opted for the posts, with Cheslin Kolbe making no mistake from in front of the uprights to score the first points of the series.

Springboks lead 3-0 after five minutes.

The All Blacks responded by showing their attacking intent, opting for an attacking lineout. After the resulting maul, they worked the ball around the fringes before Cam Roigard delivered a flat, sharp pass to All Blacks record try-scorer Will Jordan, who finished brilliantly in the right-hand corner.

Ruben Love could not convert, but the All Blacks took a 5-3 lead after nine minutes.

When Kurt-Lee Arendse left the field for a head injury assessment (HIA), little did the Ellis Park faithful know that his replacement, Andre Esterhuizen, would soon have them rising to their feet once again.

From another lineout just inside the 10-metre line, Esterhuizen brushed aside an attempted tackle from Josh Moorby with immense power, leaving the All Blacks defender sprawled on the turf before bursting clear to score the Springboks’ first try of the series.

Kolbe made no mistake from the tee, converting to put the Springboks back in front at 10-5.

The All Blacks’ game plan appeared clear: avoid contesting the World Champions at the set piece and instead stick to their open-play, running game. Once again, that approach soon paid dividends.

Tupou Vaa’i surged down the line, with Moorby running on his inside, before picking out the winger with a well-timed pass. Moorby cantered over for the try, with the Springbok cover defence nowhere to be seen, allowing him to atone for his earlier error in the build-up to Esterhuizen’s try.

Love added the conversion, but just a few minutes later, Kolbe slotted another penalty after New Zealand were penalised for collapsing the scrum, allowing the Springboks to regain the lead at 13-12.

The final 10 minutes of the half were characterised by complete Springbok dominance at scrum time, in the lineout and territorially. Their only regret may have been that such overwhelming superiority was not converted into tries and greater scoreboard pressure, leaving them to head into the interval with the narrowest of leads.

HALF-TIME: SOUTH AFRICA 13-12 NEW ZEALAND

Kolbe opened the scoring in the second half with another penalty after New Zealand were penalised at scrum time.

However, the Springboks were dealt a hammer blow when Fabian Holland charged down Grant Williams’ box kick. Williams appeared to take an eternity to get his kick away, and he was duly punished as Holland raced through unopposed to score the visitors’ third try of the game.

Love added the extras to restore the All Blacks’ lead at 19-16.

Despite facing relentless pressure on their own try line, somehow the All Blacks managed to keep the Springboks at bay. When they finally weathered the storm, they launched a devastating counter-attack that almost resulted in another try, only for Damian Willemse to produce a crucial intervention, forcing Williams to dot the ball down behind the try line and concede a five-metre scrum.

From the resulting scrum, however, the All Blacks finally broke through, with Luke Jacobson powering over the try line with 20 minutes remaining, plunging the Ellis Park crowd into deafening silence.

Matters went from bad to worse for the Springboks as both Marco van Staden and Cobus Reinach were shown yellow cards, leaving the hosts reeling.

It was an earlier controversial incident, however, that had raised the biggest questions, with Ardie Savea appearing to make high contact with Jasper Wiese — the kind of challenge for which the Springboks were shown a red card last season.

The writing was on the wall, and Will Jordan duly rubbed salt into the Springboks’ wounds, adding to his try tally as the All Blacks took firm control of the contest.

The All Blacks had delivered when it mattered most, producing a clinical second-half performance to secure a commanding victory and draw first blood in the Greatest Rivalry Series. For the Springboks, the defeat will raise plenty of questions ahead of the next encounter, particularly after they appeared to have established control during key stages of the first half.