On a wet day at Twickenham New Zealand held on to defeat South Africa 20-18 in the first Semi-final of the 2015 Rugby World Cup.
The game was dictated by the conditions, and two moments of brilliance by the Kiwis decided the outcome.
Last week South Africa required a 76th minute try to put away a dogged Welsh side and take their record at this Cup to four wins and a loss. New Zealand meanwhile produced a near-flawless display to remain unbeaten in the tournament.
This was just the fourth World Cup match between these two great rivals, and they hadn’t met in the tournament for twelve years. Before the game South Africa had two wins (1995 Final & 1999 3rd-place Playoff) to New Zealand’s one (2003 Quarter Final).
But NZ had won six of the last seven in the Rugby Championship and the betting odds before match had the All Blacks paying $1.24 and the Springboks $4.25, with the line at 8.5 points. However this Kiwi had never bet against the All Blacks and was not about to start now.
update
Check out this collision between McCaw and Louw. Citing worthy?
Jerome Kaino scores first try of the game
First half
After an early Handre Pollard penalty for South Africa they were made to pay when Jerome Kaino punished a poor defensive read by Bryan Habana to score the first try which Dan Carter converted. South Africa struck back immediately with a second Pollard penalty to make the score 7-6 to NZ in the eleventh minute.
A period of sustained All Black pressure went unrewarded and after conceding a penalty inside the South African 22, quickly found themselves inside their own 22 and watching Pollard regain the lead 9-7 for the Springboks with another penalty, at 21 minutes.
More All Black pressure went unrewarded again due to some resolute defence and poor option taking. A no-arms tackle on Nonu by Burger should have seen them regain the lead but Carter missed the relatively easy kick. Moody then gave away a penalty for a neck grab allowing South Africa to clear their line. At 35 minutes the All Blacks had little to show for their 65% possession.
Kaino went from hero to zero in the 39th minute, carded for playing at the ball while running back onside. Pollard slotted the penalty for a 12-7 half-time lead.
This was a half of missed All Black opportunities with the Springboks outstanding in defence and forcing four turnovers. Poor discipline was also evident with nine penalties being conceded before Kaino’s binning.
As expected the Bokke set pieces were rock-solid and the defence fearsome, Habana’s poor read excepted, allowing them to withstand the considerable pressure applied easily.
Francois Louw desperate to grab Nehe Milner-Skudder
Second half
Yet more All Black territory and possession appeared to be going unrewarded until Carter closed the gap to 10-12 with a nicely-taken drop goal. Kaino rejoined proceedings with no points conceded in his absence.
Nehe Milner-Skudder was subbed off in the 50th minute for “Beaugan” Barrett who almost put Savea over with his first touch, a deft grubber that just eluded him. Barrett’s second touch was a try set up by Nonu under penalty advantage. Habana’s deliberate slap-down prior to that earned him a card to compound the damage and Carter converted to regain the lead 17-12.
Beauden Barrett scores try with second touch
After McCaw won a turnover the All Blacks made a mess of the resulting scrum, Read knocking on at the back, and from the resulting scrum South Africa forced a penalty which Pollard had no trouble with. The All Blacks struck back immediately, Carter restoring the five-point margin on the hour mark – 20-15.
A series of Bokke raids went nowhere in particular but earned them a penalty that was surprisingly overturned for a previous neck grab by Matfield, that TMO Ayoub brought to Garces’ attention.
Pollard left the field injured after 65, replaced by Lambie who was quickly in the action, taking the three when Read conceded NZ’s 13th penalty to close the gap to two with eleven minutes remaining.
An error from Cane and a nice kick from Lambie gifted the Bokke a lineout 15 metres out but the defence held firm then turned over possession and for good measure stole the resulting lineout.
The All Blacks spent most of the remaining time at the right end of the field and try as they might the Bokke just couldn’t get out. Carter faked a late drop goal then put SBW into a hole but Cane couldn’t hang onto the offload. The match ended with the All Blacks shunting the Bokke scrum then forcing a knock on to run out 20-18 winners.
Two old mates having fun
The Wrap Up
This was everything you’d expect of an All Black v Springbok RWC Semi Final and then some. But in the end one feels the Bokke were just too one-dimensional, even allowing for the less than ideal conditions.
South Africa will no doubt feel that this was one that got away but, really, they have only their limited game plan to blame. Their centres barely saw the ball and their bish-bosh-bash approach was easily enough defended.
The All Blacks will be rapt to have won but discipline was again a concern, giving up something like 15 penalties in finals footy is a recipe for disaster. Luckily they got away with it today.
Francois Louw gets a piggy-back from Sonny Bill Williams
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The Game Changers
After having just kicked a penalty to get them to 18-20 the Springboks forced the All Blacks to kick the ball out 15 metres from their line. There were ten minutes to go and they set up a lineout drive, but the Kiwis stopped it and turned the ball over after the first pass from the maul.
Worse was to follow after the NZ clearance to 35 metres out when Whitelock poached a the ball in front of Matfield.
NZ controlled the ball after that and kept South Africa deep in their own half. [/one_half]
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The G&GR MOTM
For the Springboks young Pollard handled the conditions expertly.
Kaino, Read and especially McCaw kept making tackles, driving the carrier back, which stopped the Boks getting regular front-foot ball. Locks Retallick and Whitelock were into everything.
Aaron Smith and Dan Carter were a key players for NZ as was Ben Smith. The man of the match could have been any of them but it goes to fullback Ben Smith who took everything Pollard and Lambie sent his way and generally returned it with interest.[/one_half]
The Details
Score & Scorers
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New Zealand – 20
Tries: J. Kaino (6), B. Barrett (52)
Conversions: D. Carter (8, 53)
Penalties: D. Carter (60)
Drop Goal: D. Carter (46)
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South Africa – 18
Penalties: H. Pollard (3, 11, 21, 39, 58), P. Lambie (69)
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Cards & Citings
J. Kaino (NZ) – (39) Lazy running
B. Habana (SA) – (59) Deliberate knock-on
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Crowd
80,090
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Match Details
New Zealand: 15 Ben Smith, 14 Nehe Milner-Skudder, 13 Conrad Smith, 12 Ma’a Nonu, 11 Julian Savea, 10 Daniel Carter, 9 Aaron Smith, 8 Kieran Read, 7 Richie McCaw (c), 6 Jerome Kaino, 5 Samuel Whitelock, 4 Brodie Retallick, 3 Owen Franks, 2 Dane Coles, 1 Joe Moody.
Replacements: 16 Keven Mealamu, 17 Ben Franks, 18 Charlie Faumuina, 19 Victor Vito, 20 Sam Cane, 21 Tawera Kerr-Barlow, 22 Beauden Barrett, 23 Sonny Bill Williams.
South Africa: 15 Willie le Roux, 14 JP Pietersen, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Handré Pollard, 9 Fourie du Preez (c), 8 Duane Vermeulen, 7 Schalk Burger, 6 Francois Louw, 5 Lood de Jager, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Frans Malherbe, 2 Bismarck du Plessis, 1 Tendai Mtawarira.
Replacements: 16 Adriaan Strauss, 17 Trevor Nyakane, 18 Jannie du Plessis, 19 Victor Matfield, 20 Willem Alberts, 21 Ruan Pienaar, 22 Pat Lambie, 23 Jan Serfontein.
Date: Saturday, Saturday, October 24
Venue: Twickenham, London
Kick-off: 16:00 local (15:00 GMT)
Referee: Jérôme Garcès (Fra)
Assistant Referees: Romain Poite (Fra), John Lacey (Ire)
TMO: George Ayoub (Aus)
