South Africa recorded their first victory on New Zealand soil after a decade of trying with a thrilling 30-28 Tri-Nations win in Dunedin on Saturday.
A converted try from Ricky Januarie with just four minutes left on the clock won it for the Springboks, who had silenced the Carisbrook crowd as they led 17-15 at the break.
New Zealand reclaimed the lead after the break thanks to the boot of Dan Carter and a converted try to replacement Sione Lauaki which kept the All Blacks ahead.
Another defeat at the House of Pain looked imminent for South Africa who until now, had never won at this stadium in their previous seven attempts.
However, it was a sensational solo effort by Bok scrum-half Januarie that left Francois Steyn with a pressure conversion to snatch the lead and the match with fourteen players on the field after captain Victor Matfield was sin-binned for a high tackle.
The hosts threw everything at their visitors who defended with resilience, watching one drop-goal attempt from Carter sail wide and charging down the other.
And thus South Africa held on gallantly for an historic victory in a fine spectacle of rugby that will go down as one of the best played between these two proud nations.
The victory re-affirmed the Springboks' world champion status as they broke a run of 30 home victories by the All Blacks and handed their hosts only their fourth defeat in Dunedin.
It was another incredibly physical match and the result has now thrown the Tri-Nations wide open.
There was no secret formula for the improved performance from the first Test. It was simply shades of the World Cup in France. Solid set phases, punishing, controlled defence and accurate touch and goal-kicking blended with a fair deal of intelligence, patience and passion.
It's the mix that worked for the 2007 Springboks and one that served the current generation well.
In Wellington last week the Springboks waited until the 31st minute for their first line-out, but the addition of Percy Montgomery and his prodigious boot ensured that they regained that attacking platform at Carisbrook.
Matfield assumed his expected role of sky general, ruling the line-outs on his own ball and forcing the All Blacks to look for their front jumper far more than they would have been comfortable with.
That robbed the hosts of a primary attacking platform, and when they did shovel the ball to Carter, the Springbok chasing line -- led by the mongrel-like Januarie -- gobbled up his space, subsequently exposing his fallibility under pressure.
But it was in the scrums where the most significant improvement came.
CJ van der Linde redeemed himself after the battering he took at the hands of Tony Woodcock, and this meant that the loose forwards and back-line were freed up to play.
And while their attack lacked the clinical edge it needed to put the All Blacks under pressure regularly, they did capitalise on the All Blacks' ill-discipline through the boot of Percy Montgomery and Butch James.
Both teams tried to play with pace but the match was largely dominated by the whistle of Australian referee Matt Goddard, who was hard on anything that resembled foul play and kept an eagle eye on the breakdown.
The tone was set for another torrid affair with an early high-tackle from Schalk Burger on Carter, who got up off the deck to kick the first points of the game with a longish penalty.
It kick-started a penalty goal duel, with Springboks full-back Montgomery kicking one, Carter one, Montgomery two and Carter one to have the hosts 12-9 up.
Trouble struck for the home side when lock Ali Williams was forced from the field in the 29th minute after a head clash with Burger, which also aggravated his troublesome ankle, leaving debutant Kevin O'Neill to partner rookie Anthony Boric in the second row. In contrast, the Springbok second row of Bakkie Botha and Victor Matfield boast 122 caps between them.
Following a botched line-out by the home side, South Africa then snared the first try and the lead when they worked the blindside from an ensuing five-metre scrum with Joe van Niekerk finding enough space for winger JP Pietersen to crash over in the corner.
It was a nice present for the recalled Pietersen who was celebrating his 22nd birthday. Unable to cross the whitewash in the Super 14, the Sharks flyer silenced his critics with his crucial touchdown, though the conversion was missed by Montgomery.
The pressure on the All Blacks was apparent when Carter tried a long-range drop at goal that went wide.
But James slotted a cheeky drop of his own to give South Africa a 17-12 lead that could have been extended had Montgomery not missed a handy penalty as the clocked ticked away.
The All Blacks managed to strike back with Carter's fifth penalty that brought the first half to an end that made it 17-15 to the visitors at the break. The normally boisterous House of Pain was eerily silent as Rodney So'oialo's men trudged to the dressing room.
The All Blacks made an adjustment for the second half, bringing off right wing Sitiveni Sivivatu. Mils Muliaina took his place there with Leon MacDonald coming on at full-back.
The All Blacks made a concerted effort to up the tempo after the break, mounting a series of frenzied attacks that were stifled by the Springboks' unrelenting defence.
New Zealand coach Graham Henry went to the bench again for impact, bringing on big Lauaki for Jerome Kaino.
And the reward was instant with Rudi Wulf setting up another attack that saw the ball spun right, and some wonderful hands from Conrad Smith and Andy Ellis freed up Lauaki to surge over for the crucial try.
Carter's conversion moved the All Blacks 22-17 in front and set the stage for a vibrant final quarter.
With Montgomery having been replaced by Conrad Jantjes, James kicked a penalty after Bryan Habana was tackled high to make it 20-22, but then Carter -- caught in a tight spot -- swivelled and dropped ball to boot that again widen the gap to five points. 25-20.
Another penalty by James cut their lead back to 25-23 but the flow was with the All Blacks and it took a mighty tackle by Steyn, with a little assistance from Pietersen, to stop a rampaging Tony Woodcock on the corner flag.
However it seemed a brave Bok effort would be frustrated when Matfield was sin-binned for his high tackle on Lauaki and Carter goaled the ensuing penalty to have the All Blacks 28-23 clear with just seven minutes left to play.
The Springboks made a double substitution at this point, Ruan Pienaar for James and Schalk Britz for Bismarck du Plessis, and they had hardly joined the action when the opportunity arrived for Januarie to write his name large in history.
It was a moment of superlative skill from the little scrum-half with the football sized heart that broke the curse.
Picking up the ball behind a maul he darted sharply around the left, spurted between Keven Mealamu and Neemia Tialata and into the clear and then performed the most perfect of chip kicks over the head of MacDonald. The whole of South Africa held its breath. Would the bounce be favourable? It was. Januarie gathered and dived over the line.
It seemed that before he even hit the deck he was swamped by team-mates. Screams of joy shot from the heap of bodies who had converged on the number nine. Scores level at 28-all.
Steyn's conversion sailed painfully close to the right upright, but snuck inside that handed the shell-shocked All Blacks and their home crowd a two-point game in favour of the Springboks.
New Zealand weren't finished yet though. They got back on attack, Carter missed a drop goal, Nonu got close with a powerful surge but somehow the Boks held on for their famous win.
The All Blacks sit out a week to lick their wounds before they tackle the Wallabies in Sydney in a fortnight. Home losses in this championship hurt though and the pressure is firmly back on this young All Blacks side.
As for South Africa, boasting a crucial away win, now head to Perth to take on the Wallabies next Saturday with their Springbok tails very high.
Man of the match: Human dynamo Schalk Burger was at the forefront of another vigorous forward effort, making countless heavy tackles. Hooker Bismarck du Plessis was strong at scrum time, good with his line-out throws and played by far his best Test in a green and gold jumper. Victor Matfield turned his below par perfomance last week with a hole in one after causing havoc once again in the line-out, while Jean de Villiers continues to put in the hard yards. Yet it was fitting that the feisty half-back Ricky Januarie should kick the ball into touch in the final act as he was the game's standout player.
Moment of the match: Christmas came early for Januarie and South Africa with that try.
Villian of the match: Three high tackles in the game and Victor Matfield was the scapegoat that paid the price. He was unfortunate to get binned because there was no malice in it and were far worse ones in the game.
The scorers:
For New Zealand:
Try: Lauaki
Con: Carter
Pens: Carter 6
Drop goal: Carter
For South Africa:
Tries: Pietersen, Januarie
Con: Steyn
Pens: Montgomery 3, James 2
Drop goal: James
Yellow card: Matfield, high tackle (South Africa, 73 min)
New Zealand: 15 Mils Muliaina, 14 Sitiveni Sivivatu, 13 Conrad Smith, 12 Ma'a Nonu, 11 Rudi Wulf, 10 Dan Carter, 9 Andy Ellis, 8 Jerome Kaino, 7 Rodney So'oialo (c), 6 Adam Thomson, 5 Ali Williams, 4 Anthony Boric, 3 John Afoa, 2 Andrew Hore, 1 Tony Woodcock.
Replacements: 16 Keven Mealamu, 17 Neemia Tialata, 18 Kevin O'Neill, 19 Sione Lauaki, 20 Jimmy Cowan, 21 Stephen Donald, 22 Leon MacDonald.
South Africa: 15 Percy Montgomery, 14 JP Pietersen, 13 Adrian Jacobs, 12 Jean de Villiers, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Butch James, 9 Ricky Januarie, 8 Joe van Niekerk, 7 Juan Smith, 6 Schalk Burger, 5 Victor Matfield (c), 4 Bakkies Botha, 3 CJ van der Linde, 2 Bismarck du Plessis, 1 Gurthro Steenkamp.
Replacements: 16 Schalk Britz, 17 Brian Mujati, 18 Andries Bekker, 19 Luke Watson, 20 Ruan Pienaar, 21 Francois Steyn, 22 Conrad Jantjes.
Referee: Matt Goddard
Assistants: James Leckie, Paul Marks
TMO: George Ayoub
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