All Blacks power past error-ridden Springboks to extend unbeaten Eden Park record
All Blacks centre Quinn Tupaea scores a try against the Springboks.
New Zealand extended their unbeaten record at Eden Park to 51 mathches when they clinched a 24-17 victory over South Africa in Saturday’s Rugby Championship Test at the famous venue.
There was plenty of hype in the build-up to this fixture and, as expected, it was an uncompromising encounter characterised by great physicality from both sides.
The collisions were brutal but, in the end, the All Blacks got the rub of the green and outscored their arch rivals by three tries to two with Emoni Narawa, Will Jordan and Quinn Tupaea crossing the whitewash for the hosts.
Their other points came via the boot of Jordie Barrett, who slotted one conversion, and Damian McKenzie, who also succeeded with a couple of two-pointers and a penalty off the tee.
For the Springboks, Malcolm Marx and Cobus Reinach scored tries while Handre Pollard added a penalty and Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu kicked two conversions.
Click here for scorers
The result consolidates the All Blacks’ position at the top of the Rugby Championship standings and they now have 10 points, while the Wallabies are one point adrift in second spot with the Boks and Los Pumas level on five points apiece.
The All Blacks made an outstanding start as they opened the scoring as early as the second minute when Beauden Barrett launched a perfectly weighted cross-field kick which Emoni Narawa gathered while going to ground inside South Africa’s 22.
The speedster was seemingly cornered by Willie le Roux but the Springbok subsequently slipped on the slippery surface. Narawa was soon up on his feet and sold Cheslin Kolbe a dummy before cantering in for his five-pointer.
Inside centre Barrett added the extras and had the opportunity to extend his side’s lead five minutes later but his penalty attempt was wide of the mark.
The Springboks tried to bounce back from that setback but they were met by a resilient defensive effort from their opponents.
And in the 17th minute, the All Blacks extended their lead when Jordan ran onto an inside pass from Wallace Sititi – off the back of a lineout inside the Boks’ 22 – and slipped trough a tackle from Malcolm Marx before crossing for a well-taken try.
The visitors seemed shell-shocked after that score but a penalty from Pollard in the 23rd minute narrowed the gap to 11 points.
The rest of the half was an attritional affair as the sides went at each other hammer and tongs in a bid to gain the ascendancy but the Boks could not narrow the gap and the hosts had their tails up at half-time.
The visitors needed to improve their discipline if they wanted something from this clash but 10 minutes after the restart Pieter-Steph du Toit was blown up for taking Finlay Christie out at a ruck and McKenzie made no mistake with his penalty attempt
The Springboks needed a response and that came just after the hour-mark when a strong scrum just outside the All Blacks’ 22 saw Kwagga Smith gathering at the base before setting off on a barnstorming run.
He was tackled just short of the whitewash but the ball was recycled quickly before Marx crashed over from close quarters.
That score gave the visitors some hope but shortly afterwards they suffered another setback when Smith was yellow carded for a cynical defensive foul deep inside his 22.
The All Blacks put the resulting penalty into touch on the Boks’ five-metre line and were soon hammering away at their opponents’ line with their forwards. After setting up some phases, they took it out wide to their backs and Tupaea stepped past a couple of defenders before dotting down in the 67th minute.
The Boks did not surrender and in the 74th minute sniped around the fringes of a ruck close to the home side’s try-line before crossing for his side’s second five-pointer.
That set up a frantic finish as the visitors tried to cross for another converted try which would have secured a draw for them but it wasn’t to be as the All Blacks’ defence kept them at bay during the game’s closing stages.
The teams
All Blacks: 15 Will Jordan, 14 Emoni Narawa, 13 Billy Proctor, 12 Jordie Barrett, 11 Rieko Ioane, 10 Beauden Barrett, 9 Finlay Christie, 8 Wallace Sititi, 7 Ardie Savea, 6 Simon Parker, 5 Tupou Vaa’i, 4 Scott Barrett (c), 3 Fletcher Newell, 2 Codie Taylor, 1 Ethan de Groot
Replacements: 16 Samisoni Taukei’aho, 17 Tamaiti Williams, 18 Tyrel Lomax, 19 Fabian Holland, 20 Du’Plessis Kirifi, 21 Kyle Preston, 22 Quinn Tupaea, 23 Damian McKenzie
Springboks: 15 Willie Le Roux, 14 Cheslin Kolbe, 13 Jesse Kriel (c), 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Canan Moodie, 10 Handre Pollard, 9 Grant Williams, 8 Siya Kolisi, 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 6 Marco van Staden, 5 Ruan Nortje, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Thomas du Toit, 2 Malcolm Marx, 1 Ox Nche
Replacements: 16 Jan-Hendrik Wessels, 17 Boan Venter, 18 Wilco Louw, 19 Lood de Jager, 20 Kwagga Smith, 21 Cobus Reinach, 22 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, 23 Ethan Hooker
Referee: Karl Dickson (RFU)
Assistant referees: Nika Amashukeli (GRU), Jordan Way (RA)
TMO: Brett Cronan (RA)
FPRO: Eric Gauzins (FFR)