The All Blacks silenced 10Bet Ellis Park with a clinical 33-19 victory over the Springboks, crashing Rassie Erasmus's gamble on undercooked players. Despite dominating early territory and physical clashes, South Africa’s lack of accuracy and costly mistakes wasted an abundance of front-foot ball.
The Springboks started strong, with Cheslin Kolbe slotting a 4th-minute penalty after early physical dominance. The All Blacks hit back immediately at the 9-minute mark, launching relentless waves of attack into the red zone before Will Jordan crashed over in the corner to lead 05-03.
The hosts responded in the 13th minute when André Esterhuizen broke a tackle to score after multiple attacking errors. Kolbe converted to make it 10-05, but the All Blacks continued targeting the Boks out wide, exploiting missed tackles to send Josh Moorby over. Ruben Love converted to edge New Zealand ahead 12-10.
South Africa's scrum dominated the first half, harvesting four penalties in the opening 30 minutes. Kolbe converted one in the 26th minute to sneak a 13-12 lead, which held until halftime. However, risky passing and execution errors meant the Boks blew a chance to lead by double digits at the break.
Kolbe extended the lead to 16-12 with another penalty after a scrum infringement in the 47th minute. The momentum shifted instantly a minute later when Fabian Holland charged down a Grant Williams kick to score. Love converted, putting the visitors up 19-16.
New Zealand's pack turned the tables in the 56th minute, forcing a dominant scrum for Luke Jacobson to score. Love’s conversion pushed the lead to 26-16.
The Springboks' discipline completely unravelled late in the game. Marco van Staden was yellow-carded in the 69th minute, and Cobus Reinach followed him to the sin bin just a minute later.
Down to 13 men, the Boks could not hold out. In the 74th minute, the All Blacks spread the ball wide from a stable scrum to send Will Jordan over for his second try, sealing a deserved 33-19 win after absorbing immense early pressure.
Scorers:
Springboks: Try: Andre Esterhuizen. Conversion: Cheslin Kolbe. Penalty: Cheslin Kolbe (4).
All Blacks: Tries: Will Jordan (2), Josh Moorby, Fabian Holland, Luke Jacobson. Conversions: Ruben Love (4).
Teams
Springboks: 15 Damian Willemse, 14 Cheslin Kolbe, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Kurt-Lee Arendse, 10 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, 9 Grant Williams, 8 Jasper Wiese, 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit (c), 6 Paul de Villiers, 5 Ruan Nortje, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Wilco Louw, 2 Malcolm Marx, 1 Ox Nche. Replacements: 16 Jan-Hendrik Wessels, 17 Gerhard Steenekamp, 18 Zachary Porthen, 19 Cobus Wiese, 20 Andre Esterhuizen, 21 Marco van Staden, 22 Cobus Reinach, 23 Manie Libbok.
New Zealand: 15 Damian McKenzie, 14 Will Jordan, 13 Quinn Tupaea, 12 Jordie Barrett, 11 Josh Moorby, 10 Ruben Love, 9 Cam Roigard, 8 Ardie Savea (c), 7 Luke Jacobson, 6 Tupou Vaa’i, 5 Fabian Holland, 4 Josh Lord, 3 Tyrel Lomax, 2 Codie Taylor, 1 Ethan de Groot. Replacements: 16 Asafo Aumua, 17 George Bower, 18 Fletcher Newell, 19 Simon Parker, 20 Peter Lakai, 21 Kyle Preston, 22 Anton Lienert-Brown, 23 Leroy Carter.