The replacement flanker Ardie Savea scored a try in the final minute as New Zealand staged a stunning comeback to secure victory over South Africa at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria in their final Rugby Championship game.
The Springboks led by 12 points with four minutes to play, but after the lock Scott Barrett brought the visitors to within one score, they showed their experience to set up an attacking lineout from which Savea burrowed over. It will be a hard defeat for the home side to take after they dominated the game but could not hold on after the centres Jesse Kriel and Damian de Allende and the winger Cheslin Kolbe scored tries in the second half.
New Zealand’s other tries came from the scrum-half Aaron Smith and the winger Rieko Ioane as they avenged their 36-34 loss to the Springboks in Wellington last month.
The Boks dominated possession and territory in the first half with clever tactical kicking to keep the visitors pinned in their own half. But that did not translate to the scoreboard as the teams went into the break at 6-6 after two penalties each, with New Zealand’s robust and intelligent defence keeping them in the game.
The Boks made the brighter start to the second period and within four minutes they grabbed the lead after the full-back Willie le Roux, playing his 50th Test, scythed through a gap and Kriel finished the move with a fine break of his own.
Pollard landed a penalty and the Boks scored again when their captain, Siya Kolisi, burst through a tackle and fed De Allende. But New Zealand hit back with a typically incisive counterattack as Codie Taylor burst away and his pass gave Smith an easy score.
The momentum remained with the home side, though, and Kolbe stretched to dot the ball down on the line in the corner with Pollard adding the difficult conversion.
But New Zealand are famous for upping the game in the final 20 minutes and they did so again.
When the Boks knocked on from the kick-off, New Zealand were able to get into a scoring position from an attacking lineout and Ioane finished off the move.
Barrett scored a try after incessant New Zealand pressure to reduce the deficit to five points with four minutes left, and with time almost up, Savea set up the win sealed by a Richie Mo’unga conversion.