JOHANNESBURG // A 55-metre Patrick Lambie penalty gave South Africa a thrilling 27-25 Rugby Championship victory over New Zealand on Saturday, condemning the world champions to a first defeat in almost two years.
The All Blacks had turned a 24-13 second-half deficit into a one-point lead before Liam Messam fouled Schalk Burger and Lambie sent a monster kick over the bar a minute from time.
Victory before a sell-out 62,000 Ellis Park crowd ended a run of five consecutive losses by the Springboks against the All Blacks, who surrendered a world record 22-match unbeaten run.
It was not the result New Zealand skipper and flanker Richie McCaw would have wished for as he made a record 134th appearance for his country and overtook legendary lock Colin Meads.
“The crowd were unbelievable and we played really well in the first half,” Springboks captain Jean de Villiers said. “But we were not so good during the second half and need to find out why. I want to single out our No 8 Duane Vermeulen as a star among stars.
“Duane was declared fit only a few hours before the match and played through the pain barrier to be voted man of the match.”
McCaw said: “We gave ourselves a chance of winning and I am proud of my boys. As a little boy I dreamt of these matches, playing in a stadium with a wonderful atmosphere. Hopefully, I can be involved in a few more of these special matches.”
Lambie was on for 20-year-old rookie fly-half Handre Pollard, who had earlier crossed for two tries, and added three conversions and a penalty at Ellis Park, as the Boks became the first team to defeat the world champion All Blacks since England in late 2012.
Scrum-half Francois Hougaard scored the home side’s other try as their desire to play a more expansive game with ball in hand paid dividends.
New Zealand, who had already won the title, had scored tries from centre Malakai Fekitoa and wing Ben Smith, with fly-half Beauden Barrett adding a further 10 points with the boot.
Replacement hooker Dane Coles went over in the other corner with 10 minutes left and although Barrett missed the conversion, the All Blacks were 25-24 ahead and the stadium had fallen silent, until the home side were awarded a late penalty.
New Zealand may have cause for complaint, and perhaps another reason to gripe at English referee Wayne Barnes, as Lambie’s winning kick was only awarded after big screens at the venue showed replay of an incident in back-play.
As everybody paused for breath, the replay showed All Black flank Liam Messam not using his arms in a high hit on Schalk Burger and, after some persuasion, Barnes consulted the TMO who gave the penalty in South Africa’s own half.
Lambie, not renowned as a consistent goal kicker, kept his cool and found the distance and accuracy to give South Africa victory.
Follow us on twitter at @SprtNationalUAE
