Boks top rugby world

DUNEDIN – South Africa cemented their place on top of the rugby world at the weekend when they added a historic away win over the All Blacks to their World Cup glory.

The come-from-behind 30-28 victory in the second Tri-Nations Test saw the Springboks leap over New Zealand to regain the world No 1 ranking they conceded in losing the opening encounter the previous week. They also brought the All Blacks’ world record of 30 home wins to an end and recorded their first-ever victory at Dunedin’s Carisbrook ground – known as the “House of Pain” because it is a notorious graveyard for visiting teams.That they managed to score the winning points with a piece of Ricky Januarie magic in the last five minutes, and when down to only 14 men, bore testimony to their champion qualities.”We were very disappointed with our performance last weekend and we knew we had to work on a lot of things,” said Victor Matfield, sin-binned with eight minutes remaining and the Springboks behind by five points.”The guys showed a lot of character.We took a lot of planning into this game and it paid off.”The errors and misplaced kicks from the first Test were gone as they fronted the All Blacks with a combination of watertight defence and a structured attacking game that forced the All Blacks into the corners.But the win came at a cost, with hooker Bismarck du Plessis later suspended for three weeks after he admitted at a judicial hearing that his fist “made contact” around the eye area of All Blacks flanker Adam Thomson.The Springboks are already without regular rake and captain John Smit, who was injured in the first Test but still played a significant role with an inspiring video message which was played to the team just before kick-off.”I think that really lifted the guys, so he’s sharing in this win just as much as we are,” said Matfield, the stand-in captain.The Springboks also benefited from a pre-match meeting with referee Matt Goddard, ordered by the International Rugby Board to clear up gripes about perceived illegalities by the dominant All Blacks scrum in the opening Test.Ascendancy in the vital scrum area swung the South Africans’ way, although they were assisted by All Blacks strongman Brad Thorn being suspended for the second Test and veteran lock Ali Williams going off injured in the first half.In the crucial engine room, the All Blacks were reduced to Anthony Boric in only his second Test and Williams’ replacement Kevin O’Neill on debut against the world’s best locking partnership of Matfield and Bakkies Botha.All Blacks captain Rodney So’oialo tried to dismiss Januarie’s match-winning try, when he regained his own chip kick, as “a lucky bounce” but it was more than that.Close Test matches are won and lost up front, and the All Blacks paid the price for inexperience in the tight five and having no specialist No 7 to replace injured regular skipper Richie McCaw.While the All Blacks’ backs picked up the pace in the second half, they could not find holes in the swarming Springboks defence.Despite the defeat, a disappointed All Blacks coaching panel did not complain about the outcome.”We got beaten tonight by a side that’s very experienced and played well.You’ve just got to take that on the chin, hope you learn from the experience and get better,” said head coach Graham Henry.South Africa scored two tries, to JP Pietersen late in the first half and Januarie at the end, while replacement backrower Sione Lauki scored the only try for New Zealand.The remainder of the points came from the boot in a match where both coaches had impressed on their players the need for discipline.For South Africa, Percy Montgomery kicked three penalties, Butch James kicked two plus a drop goal, and Francois Steyn added the telling conversion of Januarie’s try.Point-scoring machine Dan Carter kicked six penalties for the All Blacks plus a conversion and a drop goal.Nampa-AFPThey also brought the All Blacks’ world record of 30 home wins to an end and recorded their first-ever victory at Dunedin’s Carisbrook ground – known as the “House of Pain” because it is a notorious graveyard for visiting teams.That they managed to score the winning points with a piece of Ricky Januarie magic in the last five minutes, and when down to only 14 men, bore testimony to their champion qualities.”We were very disappointed with our performance last weekend and we knew we had to work on a lot of things,” said Victor Matfield, sin-binned with eight minutes remaining and the Springboks behind by five points.”The guys showed a lot of character.We took a lot of planning into this game and it paid off.”The errors and misplaced kicks from the first Test were gone as they fronted the All Blacks with a combination of watertight defence and a structured attacking game that forced the All Blacks into the corners.But the win came at a cost, with hooker Bismarck du Plessis later suspended for three weeks after he admitted at a judicial hearing that his fist “made contact” around the eye area of All Blacks flanker Adam Thomson.The Springboks are already without regular rake and captain John Smit, who was injured in the first Test but still played a significant role with an inspiring video message which was played to the team just before kick-off.”I think that really lifted the guys, so he’s sharing in this win just as much as we are,” said Matfield, the stand-in captain.The Springboks also benefited from a pre-match meeting with referee Matt Goddard, ordered by the International Rugby Board to clear up gripes about perceived illegalities by the dominant All Blacks scrum in the opening Test.Ascendancy in the vital scrum area swung the South Africans’ way, although they were assisted by All Blacks strongman Brad Thorn being suspended for the second Test and veteran lock Ali Williams going off injured in the first half.In the crucial engine room, the All Blacks were reduced to Anthony Boric in only his second Test and Williams’ replacement Kevin O’Neill on debut against the world’s best locking partnership of Matfield and Bakkies Botha.All Blacks captain Rodney So’oialo tried to dismiss Januarie’s match-winning try, when he regained his own chip kick, as “a lucky bounce” but it was more than that.Close Test matches are won and lost up front, and the All Blacks paid the price for inexperience in the tight five and having no specialist No 7 to replace injured regular skipper Richie McCaw.While the All Blacks’ backs picked up the pace in the second half, they could not find holes in the swarming Springboks defence.Despite the defeat, a disappointed All Blacks coaching panel did not complain about the outcome.”We got beaten tonight by a side that’s very experienced and played well.You’ve just got to take that on the chin, hope you learn from the experience and get better,” said head coach Graham Henry.South Africa scored two tries, to JP Pietersen late in the first half and Januarie at the end, while replacement backrower Sione Lauki scored the only try for New Zealand.The remainder of the points came from the boot in a match where both coaches had impressed on their players the need for discipline.For South Africa, Percy Montgomery kicked three penalties, Butch James kicked two plus a drop goal, and Francois Steyn added the telling conversion of Januarie’s try.Point-scoring machine Dan Carter kicked six penalties for the All Blacks plus a conversion and a drop goal.Nampa-AFP