South Africa defeats New Zealand

Already capped in the rugby tournament, New Zealand were defeated for the first time in a year on Saturday by South Africa (31-29).

South Africa (31-29) knocked out New Zealand, already crowned but denied the Grand Slam, during the sixth and final day of the Rugby Championships held at Robina Stadium in Gold Coast (Eastern Australia).

This is the first defeat for the selection led by Ian Foster since November 2020 and a loss to Argentina (25-15). After being slightly defeated a week ago by the All Blacks (19-17), world champions South Africa secured their victory in injury time thanks to a penalty kick from Elton Gantzis, who was already a decisive drop-off a few minutes ago.

Because the meeting was played into a crossover I gasped at last. An early fight broke out seven minutes before the end of the match after a tackle from France Stein on Damien Mackenzie. Meanwhile, fellow South Africans Malcolm Marks and Eben Itzibeth interfered and both opened up the lanes.

In the process, Jordi Barrett put the advantage back to the Blacks with a penalty kick (26-25, 76) which was answered a minute later with a superb drop by Jantjies for the Boks (28-26). With another penalty kick by Jordi Barrett a minute before the end, South Africa’s hopes seemed to be dashed.

But without counting on Jantjies, who served a new penalty three minutes after the end of regulatory time. “We’ve had a tough two weeks, thanks to the South African fans for staying with us. We’re going to celebrate tonight,” said Springbok captain Sia Kulesi.

Australia in shape

Before that, the Boks weren’t undeserving in the first period but it was the All Blacks, looking for every foe’s fault, who led 20-14 at the break. The two teams were also hit hard, as Reis (13), Savia (28) and Webber (33) responded to De Allende (5) in the first period.

It was Montpellier’s Hendry Pollard who kept South Africa afloat with four penalties in the first 40 minutes. Before Makazole Mapimpi (22-20, 52) and then Jantjies (25-20, 60) bring the hand back to Boks. The inevitable Jordy Barrett penalty put the Blacks two units behind their opponents (25-23, 67), before the final duel between Gantjes and Barrett.

“Congratulations to South Africa, it was fantastic,” All Blacks captain Ardi Savia admitted. “We fought to the end but unfortunately we didn’t manage to win, which is too bad.”

A few hours before the victory of South Africa, Australia confirmed its renewed brilliance by finishing second in the 2021 edition thanks to its victory over Argentina (32-17), after a close match in the same, but less populated, Gold Coast. place.

This fourth success in the organized tournament on home soil could satisfy New Zealand coach Dave Rainey. The Wallabies, who struggled to win their Test series against an inexperienced French team in July, have only lost twice in this rugby tournament. Every time against the All Blacks. Even better, they’ve twice dominated the Springboks, claiming world champions.

On the contrary, the Argentines, who were defeated six times out of six in 2021, are in sharp decline. They claimed two victories three years ago, one against South Africa and the other in Australia, in the last edition of the four-team rugby tournament.