The Springboks scored their first win of the 2002 Tri-Nations thanks to a try from Bok fullback Werner Greeff on the stroke of full-time. South Africa led 14-9 at half-time and won 33-31 thanks to Greeff's conversion of his own score.
In the process, the Springboks wrested the Mandela Cup, which is played on a bi-annual basis, from the Wallabies, whilst the All Blacks were crowned as the Tri-Nations champions for the fourth time in their history. The Wallabies were in search of their third Tri-Nations series in a row.
Greeff, who came flying in from fullback at the perfect angle, took a neat pass from replacement scrumhalf Johannes Conradie and broke through desperate tackles from Wallaby forwards Nathan Sharpe and Matt Cockbain before diving over next to the uprights.
With the scores tied at 31-all, the courageous Western Province fullback, who had a nightmare start in the goalkicking department, stepped up and calmly slotted the match-winning conversion under huge pressure from a horde of storming Wallabies.
Maybe a draw would have been a fair reflection of the match -- a ding-dong affair if ever -- but the joy on the Boks' faces was plain to see and it was a much-needed win that can only bode well for the future.
This is a good young team with a lot of promise, but after running into a 26-9 lead they very nearly gave the match away when the Wallabies stepped out of first gear and took the lead three minutes from full-time through a spectacular try from Brendan Cannon, which was set up by George Smith.
Smith burst away from a line-out thanks to a stray Ollie le Roux throw and beat attempted tackles from Jannes Labuschagne and Lawrence Sephaka, before setting off on a brilliant solo run into South Africa's 22. There, he beat tackles from Conradie and Breyton Paulse, before passing to replacement hooker Brendan Cannon, who fell over for the try.
Matthew Burke missed the conversion, but at 31-26 it seemed all over for the brave Boks, who conceded tries to Mat Rogers and Toutai Kefu just before their classy midfielder Marius Joubert was shown a red card for a high tackle on Rogers.
Joubert's centre mate De Wet Barry had also spent some time in the sin bin for a punch on a Wallaby player, while, to make matters worse for them, their captain Corné Krige had left the fray in the 50th minute after taking another bang to his sternum.
But credit must go to stand-in skipper Bob Skinstad for rallying his troops one more time in the dying moments of the match after they won a scrum in Australia's 22 just before the final hooter.
Skinstad made the initial burst off the base of the scrum, Labuschagne carried further and when Greeff came screaming up to collect Conradie's pass, Ellis Park erupted. It was comparable to scenes from the 1995 World Cup Final at the same venue.
There were similar scenes of joy for the Ellis Park contingent when the Boks eventually woke up close to half-time thanks to tries from their pocket-sized battle-ships Breyton Paulse and Brent Russell.
Paulse's try, his first at Test level since he scored a double against Italy on 30 June last year, was preceded by a neat dart from Marius Joubert, who managed to pass the ball off the ground to a rampaging Sephaka, who hit the Wallaby defence with vigour.
The ball was re-cycled one more time after some other Bok heavies did the hard work and Paulse danced straight between front rankers Jeremy Paul and Bill Young for the five-pointer.
Greeff kicked the conversion from right in front and the Boks were just two points down -- Burke kicked three penalties after some silly Bok errors within striking-distance -- close to the break.
A two-point deficit soon became a five-point lead when Russell, a late replacement for André Pretorius -- who went down with a knee injury at the captain's run on Friday -- spun out of tackles from Daniel Herbert and Stirling Mortlock before turning on his after-burners and leaving Chris Latham in his wake.
Paulse's second try, scored shortly after the break, put the Boks in control at 21-9, but some tigerish defence (on one occasion Joe van Niekerk and Dean Hall combined to deny Toutai Kefu a try in the corner after a brilliant burst from a scrum) and Van Niekerk's second try at Test level -- just before the final quarter -- seemed to be the final nail in Australia's Tri-Nations and Mandela Cup coffin.
Van Niekerk's try, courtesy of a clever pass from Bob Skinstad, was reminiscent of the latter's match-winning try against the Wallabies in the 1998 Tri-Nations, was probably the best of the day, until Smith nearly stole the thunder from the Boks with his 70-metre dash in the lead-up to Cannon's seemingly match-clinching try.
It would have been cruel for the Boks if they had been denied again, but this is Test (at its best we might add!) rugby and sometimes the harshest lessons are the best. The Boks will feel it was a season of "what-if?" or "could have", but if they are honest with themselves, they contrived to throw away all of their previous matches.
At one stage it seemed as if this match was headed in the same direction.
Acting NZRFU CEO Steve Tew collected the Tri-Nations trophy on behalf of the All Blacks, South Africa's elated skipper Corné Krige collected the Mandela Shield from the former President's son.
It was hard to wipe the smile off Krige's face. "This one is for you," he said to the Ellis Park faithful after collecting the shield.
Man of the match: There are tons of contenders here. For the Wallabies, Nathan Sharpe, George Smith and Toutai Kefu were exemplary, as were George Gregan, Stephen Larkham and Matthew Burke. For the Boks, Lawrence Sephaka showed his worth and ability, locks Jannes Labuschagne and AJ Venter were hard and never took a backwards step, whilst Joe van Niekerk continues to play better each week, especially in tandem with Bob Skinstad. Amongst the backs, Neil de Kock, Brent Russell, Breyton Paulse and Werner Greeff deserve praise, but in the end we have settled for a forward. The lucky man? Loosehead prop Lawrence Dumisani Sephaka, who at 23, played the match of his life. He scrummed well, carried the ball strongly (He featured prominently in the build-up to both of Paulse's tries) and defended as if his life depended on it. He just edges Van Niekerk to this award and wins one back for his fellow prop forwards, whose hard work often goes unnoticed!
Moment of the match: Brent Russell's try was a wonderful moment as was Joe van Niekerk's burst down the touchline en route to his try, whilst George Smith's burst away from a stray Bok line-out throw, in the build-up to Cannon's try, was brilliant. But in the end, one cannot ignore Greeff's sensational try. He took the ball at pace and broke through the attempted tackles from Nathan Sharpe -- the Wallabies' best forward again -- and Matt Cockbain before coolly slotting the conversion (his fourth of the day). This is a young Bok side with character and verve, and Greeff personified it with his heroics. Who will forget stand-in skipper Bob Skinstad's celebrations?
Villain of the match: In a match like this, choosing a villain is not the easiest exercise. AJ Venter deserves a mention here when he rucked close to Owen Finegan's head, Nathan Sharpe punched a Springbok player and De Wet Barry was penalised for a nifty punch on a Wallaby. The winner then? Marius Joubert, who was shown a red card for a high tackle on Mat Rogers. The Boks were guilty of three other high tackles on the day.
The teams:
Australia: 1 Ben Darwin, 2 Jeremy Paul, 3 Bill Young, 4 Justin Harrison, 5 Nathan Sharpe, 6 Owen Finegan, 7 George Smith, 8 Toutai Kefu, 9 George Gregan (c), 10 Steve Larkham, 11 Stirling Mortlock, 12 Matthew Burke, 13 Dan Herbert, 14 Ben Tune, 15 Chris Latham
Reserves: Brendan Cannon, Matt Cockbain, Rod Moore, Mat Rogers, David Lyons
Unused: Elton Flatley, Chris Whitaker
South Africa: 1 Willie Meyer, 2 James Dalton, 3 Lawrence Sephaka, 4 Jannes Labuschagne, 5 A.J. Venter, 6 Corne Krige (c), 7 Joe Van Niekerk, 8 Bobby Skinstad, 9 Neil De Kock, 10 Brent Russell, 11 Dean Hall, 12 De Wet Barry, 13 Marius Joubert, 14 Breyton Paulse, 15 Werner Greeff
Reserves: Faan Rautenbach, Hendro Scholtz, Bolla Conradie, Ollie Le Roux, Stefan Terblanche
Unused: Adi Jacobs, Victor Matfield
Attendance: 63000
Referee: O'brien p.
Points Scorers:
Australia
Tries: Cannon B.J. 1, Kefu R.S.T. 1, Rogers M. 1
Conv: Burke M.C. 2
Pen K.: Burke M.C. 3
Drop G.: Gregan G.M. 1
South Africa
Tries: Greeff W.W. 1, Paulse B.J. 2, Russell B. 1, Van Niekerk J.C. 1
Conv: Greeff W.W. 4
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