Ellis Park emptied out five minutes early
Springboks against All Blacks in Johannesburg, and the exits were busy before the final whistle. That tells you plenty.
New Zealand won 33-16 on Saturday evening in the opening match of Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry. Five tries to one. Against the world champions, on their own turf, at altitude.
It did not start that way. Cheslin Kolbe got the scoreboard moving with a kick on four minutes. Will Jordan hit back, finishing off a lineout 10 metres out after a maul that chewed up the ground. Andre Esterhuizen, on after Jesse Kriel went off for a head injury assessment, burst through the New Zealand line for what turned out to be South Africa’s only try of the night.
Josh Moorby grabbed the second Kiwi try from a Tupou Vaa’i offload. A scrum penalty on 25 minutes gave Kolbe the chance to nudge the home side back in front. Half-time: 13-12 to the Boks.
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The scrum held up. The rest did not.
South Africa dominated every New Zealand feed and the crowd roared “Scrum!” at every stoppage. That was the one area where the Boks were clearly on top, and it papered over some messy spells with ball in hand.
Everything else fell apart. Fabian Holland charged down a Grant Williams clearance, gathered the loose ball and raced in unopposed.
Then the discipline went. Marco van Staden was shown yellow for taking out the scrum-half on his own try line. Cobus Reinach followed for a deliberate knock-on. Thirteen against fifteen, 12 minutes left, 10 points adrift.
Ardie Savea sent Will Jordan over in the corner. 33-16.
Rennie built this side in months, and it showed
Anton Segner withdrew late and was not missed. The replacements shored up the scrum when they came on, and Quinn Tupaea produced a brilliant 50/22 just as the match turned for good.
At the other end, Rassie Erasmus had shuffled his half-back pairing and rested Siya Kolisi for this first Test.
South Africa are still the world champions. They just got beaten at Ellis Park.
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