First Test: South Africa 16-33 New Zealand
All Blacks score five tries against world champions
As first courses go, this was a delicious appetiser to a series that looks set to live up to its billing. First blood goes to New Zealand, who withstood a barrage of Springbok scrum pressure and demonstrated a slickness that the double world champions could not live with, clinching a first win at Ellis Park since 2022.
By the end, South Africa had two men in the sin-bin and given their status as the world’s leading side, this goes down as a disintegration. There will be a backlash – it is hard to remember a time when South Africa were so inaccurate with the ball in hand – but credit New Zealand for producing a masterclass at weathering the storm and taking their chances.
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