The Springboks produced a ferocious response to their first Test humiliation, beating the All Blacks 33-26 at DHL Stadium in Cape Town to level the Greatest Rivalry series at one-all. Cheslin Kolbe’s 18-point haul — four penalties and three conversions — proved the difference as the world champions outscored the tourists three tries to four but controlled the match for long periods through sheer physicality and set-piece dominance. It was head coach Dave Rennie’s first defeat in nine matches in charge of the All Blacks.
Key moments
1 min – Springboks set the tone. Jordie Barrett fields the kick-off and punts straight to touch. Springbok lineout inside the All Blacks’ 22. Rolling maul drives the tourists back 15 metres. Deon Fourie and Siya Kolisi carry with venom.
2 mins – TRY SOUTH AFRICA: Jesse Kriel hits a sublime line off a Cobus Reinach pass and crashes over after the opening maul had pinned the All Blacks deep. Kolbe converts. (South Africa 7–0 All Blacks)
15 mins – TRY ALL BLACKS: Will Jordan leaves both Springbok centres clutching at shadows on a devastating break before releasing Cam Roigard, who races under the posts untouched. Love converts. (South Africa 7–7 All Blacks)
18 mins – PENALTY SOUTH AFRICA: Kolbe kicks a penalty after the All Blacks are penalised at the breakdown. (South Africa 10–7 All Blacks)
25 mins – TRY SOUTH AFRICA: Damian de Allende powers through three All Blacks tacklers to score. A trademark show of brute force from the centre. Kolbe converts. (South Africa 17–7 All Blacks)
33 mins – TRY ALL BLACKS: Damian McKenzie scores after Ardie Savea charges onto a ball from Roigard and runs into space. The All Blacks work the ball through the line and McKenzie uses his speed to finish. Love converts. (South Africa 17–14 All Blacks)
35 mins – Ox Nche and Malcolm Marx come on for South Africa. Fresh front-row firepower for the Springboks as they press for a half-time cushion.
37 mins – TRY SOUTH AFRICA: Siya Kolisi powers over from a pick-and-go after the Springboks work the ball across the field from a lineout. Kolbe converts. (South Africa 24–14 All Blacks)
Half-time: South Africa 24–14 All Blacks. A ferocious first half from the Springboks, who made their intentions clear from the opening seconds. Three tries to two, with Kolisi’s score on the stroke of half-time giving the hosts a ten-point cushion. The Springboks’ physicality at the collision was relentless. Jordan’s break for Roigard’s try and McKenzie’s counter offered glimpses of the All Blacks’ threat, but they were too often on the back foot.
48 mins – PENALTY SOUTH AFRICA: Kolbe kicks a penalty after the All Blacks are penalised at the breakdown. (South Africa 27–14 All Blacks)
50 mins – PENALTY SOUTH AFRICA: Kolbe kicks his third penalty. (South Africa 30–14 All Blacks)
60 mins – Etzebeth steals crucial lineout. The All Blacks produce a superb 14-phase passage of play and win a penalty to kick for the corner. But Eben Etzebeth steals the lineout to relieve the pressure. A defining moment.
62 mins – PENALTY SOUTH AFRICA: Kolbe kicks his fourth penalty to extend the lead to 19 points. (South Africa 33–14 All Blacks)
65 mins – TRY ALL BLACKS: Jordan takes a Springbok box kick and runs ahead to set up the ruck. The All Blacks move the ball across the field and Leroy Carter is given room to wind up his sprint and race over in the corner. Love’s conversion misses. (South Africa 33–19 All Blacks)
76 mins – TRY ALL BLACKS: Will Jordan finds space on the right wing but is tackled short. The ball is moved back across the field where Ardie Savea scores, with Patrick Tuipulotu driving him over the line. Love converts. (South Africa 33–26 All Blacks)
79 mins – YELLOW CARD SOUTH AFRICA: Lood de Jager sin-binned for head-on-head contact on Leroy Carter. Springboks down to 14 for the final moments.
80+2 mins – Esterhuizen seals it. The All Blacks clear the ball to near halfway and probe from a lineout, but Andre Esterhuizen wins a crucial turnover at a tackle on Will Jordan. The Springboks hold on.
Full-time: South Africa 33–26 All Blacks. Series level 1–1.
Ardie Savea had warned all week that the Springboks were a “wounded beast.” He was right. From the opening seconds, when Siya Kolisi and Deon Fourie charged into contact as if their lives depended on it, the outcome of this second Test felt inevitable. The world champions had come to Cape Town humiliated and desperate, and they delivered the response their coaching staff demanded with a performance built on unrelenting physicality, disciplined kicking and a refusal to let the All Blacks play the game on their terms.
The match was effectively decided in the opening 62 minutes. The Springboks led from the second minute to the final whistle, and while the All Blacks outscored them four tries to three, Kolbe’s boot ensured the hosts never relinquished control. His four penalties — three of them the only points South Africa scored in the second half — were the difference between the sides, punishing an All Blacks penalty count that once again proved their Achilles heel on tour.
“You can’t let the Springboks get ahead like that in the first two minutes and I think we were just chasing the game,” Savea said afterwards. “But I’m very proud of the boys — we stuck in there, we fought, but we came up short.”
The Springboks’ start was as explosive as anything produced in this series. Jordie Barrett fielded the kick-off and punted straight to touch just beyond the 22-metre line — a decision that handed the hosts a lineout in prime attacking territory. Fourie, starting at hooker in a late change from the originally named lineup, found his jumper and the Springboks’ maul rumbled 15 metres backwards. From the resulting phase play, Kolisi and Fourie carried with venom before Cobus Reinach fired a flat pass for Jesse Kriel to slice through on a sublime line and score under the posts. Kolbe converted and the Springboks led 7-0 inside two minutes.
The All Blacks were rattled but found their composure in the 15th minute through a moment of individual brilliance from Will Jordan. From a lineout, the ball was played off the back with Ruben Love and Barrett using double pumps to draw defenders before Jordan received the ball wide. The wing left both de Allende and Kriel clutching at shadows with a devastating break before releasing Cam Roigard in support, and the halfback raced under the posts untouched. Love converted and the tourists were level at 7-7.
Kolbe restored the Springboks’ advantage three minutes later with the first of his four penalties, and from the restart the hosts tightened the screw. De Allende, who would finish with an extraordinary 18 tackles and 10 carries, powered through three tacklers to score the Springboks’ second. It was a trademark display of brute force from the 34-year-old centre, who embodied everything the Springboks brought to this contest. Kolbe converted for 17-7.
The All Blacks pulled back to 17-14 through McKenzie, who finished off a move initiated by Savea’s charge onto a Roigard pass. The number eight ran into space before the ball was worked through the hands for the fullback to use his pace to slide over. Love converted and the tourists were back in the hunt. But the momentum was short-lived. Three minutes before half-time, the Springboks drove the All Blacks off a lineout and worked the ball across the field for Kolisi to power over from close range. It was the captain’s first try in the series, and Kolbe’s conversion gave the hosts a 24-14 cushion at the break.
Kolisi’s try, coming just minutes after the introduction of Malcolm Marx and Ox Nche from the bench, underlined the Springboks’ clever use of their reserves. Rassie Erasmus’s decision to make his first front-row changes before half-time injected fresh energy at precisely the right moment, and the impact bench continued to deliver throughout the second half.
“He’s an experienced coach and he’ll feel what we felt last week,” Erasmus said of his counterpart.
The second half belonged to Kolbe’s right boot and the Springboks’ suffocating defence. Penalties in the 48th and 50th minutes extended the lead to 30-14, and while the All Blacks produced a superb 14-phase passage of play that earned a penalty and a lineout deep in the Springboks’ 22, Eben Etzebeth — imperious throughout — stole the throw and South Africa cleared. It was a defining moment. When Kolbe landed his fourth penalty to make it 33-14, the match appeared beyond the tourists.
The All Blacks, to their immense credit, refused to surrender. Jordan took a Springbok box kick cleanly and ran ahead to set up the ruck before the ball was shifted across the field. On the far touchline, Carter was given room to wind up his sprint and the winger did the rest, racing over in the 65th minute. Love’s conversion drifted wide but the deficit was back to 14.
The tourists pushed again with 76 minutes on the clock. Jordan found space on the right but was hauled down short, and when the ball was recycled back across the field, Savea was driven over the line by replacement lock Tuipulotu. Love converted from wide and suddenly the All Blacks were within seven at 33-26 with four minutes remaining.
“The boys hung in there and almost stole the game away,” Savea said. “I guess we’ve got to fix up little areas in our game and not let the Springboks get into our 22 or rack points up in threes to put pressure on us.”
Into the final minute, de Jager was sin-binned for head-on-head contact on Carter, leaving the Springboks with 14 men for the closing moments. The All Blacks cleared to near halfway for a lineout and probed desperately for the equalising score, but Esterhuizen produced a crucial turnover at a tackle on Jordan and the Springboks held on.
“It’s really small margins,” Rennie said. “For all the pressure we were under tonight we lost by seven. What we know is we can create opportunities and we can score.”
The statistics told a fascinating story. The All Blacks enjoyed 57 per cent possession, made 154 carries to 104, achieved eight line breaks to five and made 246 passes to 93. But they missed 26 tackles to the Springboks’ 39, and the visitors’ greater ambition with ball in hand was consistently nullified by the ferocity of the home defence. The scrum, which had been such a concern in the first Test, was significantly more competitive — the All Blacks achieved 100 per cent on their own feed while South Africa managed just 75 per cent — but the Springboks found other avenues to build pressure, particularly through Kolbe’s kicking game.
New Test centurion Pieter-Steph du Toit, who captained the side in his 100th Test, broke the Springbok hoodoo of losing when celebrating a milestone cap. Kolisi’s return from a hamstring injury was seamless, the flanker’s physicality and leadership transforming the home side’s energy from the first whistle. Simon Parker was one of the few All Blacks forwards to match the Springboks’ intensity, earning praise for a tireless display on debut in the six jersey.
The defeat was Rennie’s first in charge, ending a run of eight consecutive victories stretching back to the Nations Championship in July. The series now moves to FNB Stadium in Johannesburg for the third Test next Saturday, with the fourth and final Test in Baltimore a fortnight later. With the series locked at one-all, everything is still to play for.
“We’ve got to be better,” Savea said. “We’ve got to fix up our start. We’ve got to fix up our discipline. But this series is not over. We know what we’re capable of and we’ll be ready next week.”
Teams
South Africa: 15 Damian Willemse, 14 Cheslin Kolbe, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Ethan Hooker, 10 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, 9 Cobus Reinach, 8 Jasper Wiese, 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit (c), 6 Siya Kolisi, 5 Ruan Nortje, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Wilco Louw, 2 Deon Fourie, 1 Gerhard Steenekamp.
Replacements: 16 Malcolm Marx, 17 Ox Nche, 18 Thomas du Toit, 19 Lood de Jager, 20 Cameron Hanekom, 21 Andre Esterhuizen, 22 Morne van den Berg, 23 Handre Pollard.
All Blacks: 15 Damian McKenzie, 14 Will Jordan, 13 Quinn Tupaea, 12 Jordie Barrett, 11 Leroy Carter, 10 Ruben Love, 9 Cam Roigard, 8 Ardie Savea (c), 7 Luke Jacobson, 6 Simon Parker, 5 Tupou Vaa’i, 4 Fabian Holland, 3 Tyrel Lomax, 2 Codie Taylor, 1 George Bower.
Replacements: 16 Asafo Aumua, 17 Xavier Numia, 18 Fletcher Newell, 19 Patrick Tuipulotu, 20 Peter Lakai, 21 Kyle Preston, 22 Anton Lienert-Brown, 23 Josh Moorby.
Match details
South Africa 33 (Tries: Kriel, de Allende, Kolisi; Conversions: Kolbe 3/3; Penalties: Kolbe 4/4)
All Blacks 26 (Tries: Roigard, McKenzie, Carter, Savea; Conversions: Love 3/4)
Half-time: 24–14 (South Africa)
Venue: DHL Stadium, Cape Town
Attendance: 55,000 (sold out)
Referee: Luke Pearce (England)
Series: Level 1–1
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