South Africa v New Zealand LIVE: Result and reaction from Rugby Championship as Springboks win Freedom Cup
South Africa 18-12 New Zealand: Sifa Kolisi and Malcolm Marx scored to secure the win for the Springboks
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South Africa defeated New Zealand 18-12 in the Rugby Championship to increase their lead at the top of the table and make it four wins in a row against their old rivals.
Much like in the match in Johannesburg, New Zealand started as the smarter side, taking the points on offer and opening up a six point lead from the boot of Damian McKenzie. Handre Pollard cut that down to three with a penalty kick of his own but a third penalty for the All Blacks’ fly-half sent them into the break on top.
That only spurred the Springboks on though. They came out quickly from the restart, overpowering the New Zealand defence and sending captain Siya Kolisi over the line for the first try of the game. A penalty each made the score 13-12 and the game was set up for a tense finale.
However, a stupide shoulder barge from Tyrel Lomax saw him sin binned with 10 minutes to go and New Zealand, now down to 14 players, couldn’t keep Malcolm Marx at bay with the substitute scoring to secure the Freedom Cup for the hosts.
Relive the score updates and reaction from the Rugby Championship match below:
South Africa 0-0 New Zealand
6 mins: There’s been some crunching tackles already with South Africa chipping away at the field position New Zealand gained following the first penalty.
Handre Pollard slots a grubber kick through the All Blacks line but Jordie Barrett scopps it up and boots it back down the field.
South Africa 0-0 New Zealand
3 mins: Grant Williams takes too long to resume the match after the opening tackle and hands New Zealand a scrum deep in his own half.
The All Blacks try to get something going but South Africa’s defence is strong and quick. Mark Tele’a is thrown off the ball as part of a tackle. He spills it and the Springboks win a scrum of their own.
Kick off! South Africa 0-0 New Zealand
Siya Kolisi is such an inspiring figurehead for South African rugby. He’s an articulate and passionate speaker and he’s very good at playing rugby.
The Springboks captain belts out his country’s national anthem before the All Blacks perform their haka. The South Africans look back with stern and stoic faces
Now this match gets underway with the All Blacks launching the ball into the air.
South Africa v New Zealand
Here we go.
The second test of this double header between South Africa and New Zealand. The Springboks won a close tight match last time out and another victory here will see them win the Freedom Cup for the first time since 2009.
New Zealand will want to respond positively. There pretty much threw the game away in Johannesburg but have good memories of playing in Cape Town.
The players make their way out onto the pitch, kick off is up next...
Springboks and All Blacks collide again as rugby’s tectonic plates shift on and off the pitch
South of the Equator, the tectonic plates of rugby are shifting. Secure back-to-back wins against New Zealand this weekend and South Africa will all but make certain of a rare Rugby Championship crown, knocking the All Blacks of a throne they have occupied for most of the last two decades.
As any Springboks fan will tell you when discussing even a tenuously tangential topic, South Africa now have four World Cup wins to New Zealand’s three, but their record in this competition has been curiously poor. Since the transformative arrival of Rassie Erasmus, they have won the Rugby Championship just once; in the last two decades, that tally of titles grows only to three.
Springboks and All Blacks collide again as tectonic plates shift on and off the pitch
The Springboks look set to secure the Rugby Championship as the two fierce foes renew their rivalry in Cape Town this weekend, but it may be off the pitch where the more significant battles are about to be fought
All Blacks starting XV
New Zealand XV: 1 Tamaiti Williams, 2 Codie Taylor, 3 Tyrel Lomax; 4 Scott Barrett (capt.), 5 Tupou Vaa’i; 6 Wallace Sititi, 7 Sam Cane, 8 Ardie Savea; 9 Cortez Ratima, 10 Damian McKenzie; 11 Mark Tele’a, 12 Jordie Barrett, 13 Rieko Ioane, 14 Sevu Reece; 15 Will Jordan.
Replacements: 16 Asafo Aumua, 17 Ofa Tu’ungafasi, 18 Fletcher Newell, 19 Sam Darry, 20 Luke Jacobson; 21 TJ Perenara, 22 Anton Lienert-Brown, 23 Beauden Barrett.
South Africa starting XV
South Africa XV: 1 Ox Nche, 2 Bongi Mbonambi, 3 Frans Malherbe; 4 Eben Etzebeth, 5 Ruan Nortje; 6 Siya Kolisi (capt.), 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 8 Jasper Wiese; 9 Grant Williams, 10 Handre Pollard; 11 Cheslin Kolbe, 12 Damian de Allende, 13 Jesse Kriel, 14 Canan Moodie; 15 Willie le Roux.
Replacements: 16 Malcolm Marx, 17 Gerhard Steenekamp, 18 Vincent Koch, 19 Kwagga Smith, 20 Elrigh Louw; 21 Jaden Hendrikse, 22 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, 23 Lukhanyo Am.
South Africa v New Zealand
New Zealand will look to hit back and keep their Rugby Championship hopes alive in the second of back-to-back meetings with South Africa.
The Springboks emerged victorious in Johannesburg last weekend as Grant Williams’ late try capped a captivating comeback and sealed a narrow 31-27 win.
The All Blacks had appeared in control at 27-17 ahead during the second half, but another final quarter collapse is reason for concern for Scott Robertson after similar failings in their defeat to Argentina at the start of the tournament.
The two sides swap the Highveld for the Cape Town coast as they again renew one of rugby’s most storied rivalries.
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More from Springboks assistant coach
“You can never relax, not when you’re playing against the All Blacks,” Stick explained, “We’ve never been in a position like this in the past… you know how difficult it is to win a Freedom Cup away from the All Blacks. You need to win two games to get it away from them.
“We’ve been doing well against them, winning one game and then they win one game and they retain that Freedom Cup. It’s a very special trophy.
“If you look at where we are as a country, for example, 30 years of democracy, I think that trophy speaks volumes into what we stand for as a Springbok team currently.
“Yes, we spoke about it… I know we haven’t played a lot of games against the All Blacks here in Cape Town, the last one was in 2017, and now if you look at the team and what we stand for, I think the timing of bringing the game back into Cape Town… we are given an opportunity make a difference between the four lines.
“It’s going to be a great vibe, it’s going to be a great occasion… I know our people will be behind us and we’ll do everything in our powers to make sure that we are least give them a taste of that Freedom Cup.”
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