Rugby, All Blacks disaster, South Africa win 35-7

In the last two-team test before the World Cup at Twickenham, in what may have been a preliminary final for the upcoming Rugby World Cup, reigning world champions South Africa dominated and defeated the All Blacks 35–7. In groups A and B of the World Cup, New Zealand and Springboks would immediately cross paths in the quarter-finals if they finished in different positions, and having won their groups by finishing second, they would then find themselves on opposite sides. boards and therefore end up alone in the final.

sold out

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The match will be sold out at Twickenham (82,000 spectators) and tomorrow the gates will re-open for the England-Fiji match, the last test before the World Cup for the team of manager Steve Borthwick. South Africa literally dominates the first 10 minutes with intensity, ferocity and quality worthy of world champions. The All Blacks’ defense was under terrible pressure and hesitated fearfully, even missing the scrum from 5 metres, but the pouring rain played a cruel trick on South African midfielder Faf de Klerk, who allowed the ball to slip forward, recovering the ball. But the suffering of the New Zealanders did not end there: in the 14th minute, Scott Barrett went overboard in a 10 meters ruck and was punished with a yellow card. Obviously, we are moving into a deep touch when captain Sam Kane stopped the maul irregularly: this is a clear violation of the rules of the game, and a second yellow card comes. With two more hitters, the Springboks tried again, but when Malcolm Marks tried to save himself, Richie Munga was miraculous, holding the prostitute and depriving him of a practically made attempt. However, in the 18th minute, South Africa finally breaks through: again a touch and again they say, the New Zealand defense defends with unheard-of fury and seems to resist, but in the end it is captain Sia Kolisi (Mani Libbock transformation). . Two minutes pass and Eben Etzebeth’s stupidity gives Munga an easy spot, but the first shot hits the post. In the 31st minute, the All Blacks stole a touch at 22, the South Africans turned the front line and found Macazol Mapimpi on the left, but the South African winger incredibly let the ball fall out of his hands. But another minute passes and another gift arrives: in a very risky outing with 22 balls in hand, Jordie Barrett gets caught by Kurt-Lee Endzee, who can comfortably approach the posts (Libbock transforms). The limit is not so easy to define: the aggressiveness of the defense of the world champions is breathtaking in the New Zealanders, who, however, are far beyond the threshold of individual errors that such a team should allow. The All Blacks’ first decent attack at the very end results in a free kick, but Scott Barrett decides to blow it all off by shouldering a ruck against Marx: a second yellow that turns red and the disaster is complete. With time running out, the All Blacks would also have found a great try with Will Jordan, but previous forward Mark Talea cancels the game.

Shame to avoid

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In the second half, the Springboks need 70 seconds to find a third try: Boden Barrett with a sudden cross from his 22 towards Talea sends the ball straight into touch, Etsebet quickly strikes, the ball immediately hits Kolisi, who comes out of touch . to the right and then, after clearing a path for him, give Marx an oval to dive in. In the 52nd minute, numerical parity is restored for the yellows and Peter-Step du Toit, who, while trying to tackle, hits Kane on the head with his hand. In the 59th minute, a merciless South African maul came into action from the sideline 5 meters away, who broke through the substitute prostitute Bongi Mbonambi on goal. The fifth also arrives in the 67th minute: this time, Quagg Smith plays quickly from the sideline from 10 meters, leaving the confused defenders the opportunity to strike again. Libbock converted all 3. In the 71st minute, this is the first attempt for the team of Cam Roigard (replaced Aaron Smith), who intercepts in his own half of the field and, dodging 3 tackles, flies right under the post (with a conversion from Mung) to save All Blacks from the shame of a no-point defeat: last loss to South Africa in 1960 (0–13 in Johannesburg). But that didn’t save New Zealand from the worst defeat in its history (twice it lost by 21 points, always to Australia in 1999 and 2019).