The final frenzy meant the Boks have all but secured the Castle Lager Rugby Championship with two games to go, and only an utter disaster can prevent it.
It also meant that the Boks have reclaimed the Freedom Cup, which they needed to win outright to end a 15-year absence from their trophy cabinet and have now done the unthinkable and completed four wins in a row against their old enemy.
It also increased their wins to six out of the last eight meetings between the two sides, which could easily be seen as a strangehold in the age-old rivalry between the two teams.
‘Another bloody-minded comeback’
Charlie Morgan, the Telegraph UK
Another intense encounter, another bloody-minded comeback and another trophy in the hands of this special Springboks crop.
They will now slide the Freedom Cup into a heaving trophy cabinet. Under the imitable Rassie Erasmus, they have now collected two World Cups as well as the 2021 British and Irish Lions series and the 2019 Rugby Championship.
South Africa had not held the Freedom Cup, contested against the All Blacks, since 2009, but broke that streak thanks to second-half tries from skipper Siya Kolisi and Malcolm Marx in Cape Town, a city that has not always favoured them for this fixture.
New Zealand, who led 9-3 at half-time, ended without a try and spurned chances to avenge their loss in Johannesburg.
Damian McKenzie missed an eminently kickable penalty in the final 10 minutes when his team were trailing 13-12.
At the end of a week in which South Africa and New Zealand signalled their intention to leave the rest of the Rugby Championship behind, with quadrennial tours of one another’s nations, they staged a second gripping affair in seven days.
As the game grew tenser in the final quarter, South Africa tightened their grip. It is, indeed, what they do.
Springboks claim epic double
David Skippers, Planet Rugby
The Springboks continued their dominance in this year’s Rugby Championship as they clinched an 18-12 victory over the All Blacks in Cape Town on Saturday.
As the score line suggests, this was a hard-fought battle and momentum between the sides ebbed and flowed throughout but the Boks finished stronger and eventually outscored their visitors by two tries to none.
Siya Kolisi and Malcolm Marx crossed the whitewash for the world champions with Handre Pollard adding a conversion and a penalty while Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu also succeeded with a three-pointer off the kicking tee.
Damian McKenzie scored all of the All Blacks points courtesy of four penalties. The win is a momentous one for the Boks as they take a giant step towards winning the Rugby Championship and it also means they win the Freedom Cup for the first time in 15 years.
It is also South Africa’s second successive triumph over New Zealand in the tournament and their fourth win in a row over their arch-rivals.
‘Difficult start for Robertson’
Nick Said, Reuters
Siya Kolisi and Malcolm Marx scored tries as South Africa recorded a fourth win in a row against old foes New Zealand for the first time in 75 years with an 18-12 Rugby Championship victory in Cape Town on Saturday.
It was a high-octane encounter full of energy and endeavour in front of a fervent crowd of 55,000, but both sides committed numerous errors that stunted their momentum and it will not go down as a classic.
Damian McKenzie kicked all of New Zealand’s points but missed two penalties from virtually in front of the posts that proved decisive for the visitors, who have now lost three of their last four tests in a difficult start for new coach Scott Robertson.
New Zealand were dominant at the breakdown, which kept them in the game as they won a succession of penalties.
But once again they battled to contain the home side in the final 20 minutes as the Springboks began to dictate territory and possession, and turned the screw on their visitors.
Lomax’s ‘stupid shoulder’
Michael Jones, the Independent
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 stupid 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.
‘Final quarter failings’
Liam Napier, NZ Herald
The Springboks officially have the All Blacks’ number. For the first time in 75 years the Springboks recorded their fourth win in succession against their great foes.
From the record Twickenham defeat and the World Cup final last year to back-to-back victories over Scott Robertson’s All Blacks in South Africa in the last two weeks, the Springboks underlined their world champion status.
The Rugby Championship and Freedom Cup trophies, the latter held by the All Blacks for the past 15 years, are the Springboks’ to savour. Not one member of this Springboks team has touched the treasured Freedom Cup before today.
The Boks missed 26 tackles in the first half - 37 in the match - and yet somehow the All Blacks couldn’t cross their line.
Battered and bruised, the All Blacks will return home with their final-quarter failings hanging over their heads.
Two chances to knock off the Boks have been squandered, leaving the Bledisloe Cup as the All Blacks’ only remaining trophy of note and Robertson under pressure to deliver a response.
