Springboks beat All Blacks: Three key talking points from Cape Town match

The Springboks reigned supreme as they picked up a fourth straight win over the All Blacks for the first time in the professional era, after triumphing 18-12 in their clash at the Cape Town Stadium on Saturday night.

It also saw the Boks pick up the Freedom Cup for the first time since 2009, while they are now on the verge of winning the Rugby Championship thanks to an almost unassailable lead at the top of the log.

Here are three major talking points from the match:

Massive scrum battle once again

Just like in the first Test at Ellis Park last weekend, the Springboks and All Blacks produced a massive scrum battle. However, unlike last week it was the Boks who shaded the contest after getting off to a bulldozing start.

The first scrum straight off the kick-off, on New Zealand’s ball, saw the All Black pack backpedalling before they finally got the ball out. The second scrum soon after, on the hosts’ ball, saw the Boks again power forward and earn a penalty.

The rest of the half saw pretty even scrums, with the Boks slightly on top, before the final two scrums of the first 40 going the All Blacks’ way as they started to build up some momentum. The scrums in the second half were initially evenly fought, but the Boks did take control late in the game.

Discipline issues for Boks

The Boks were once again on the wrong side of the referee’s pocket as they picked up a card for the sixth game out of the eight they have played this season, showing a worrying trend of ill-discipline. In the first half eighthman Jasper Wiese was the guilty party, receiving 10 minutes in the bin for slowing the ball down at the breakdown in the red zone.

All Blacks wing Sevu Reece was also yellow carded for taking out fullback Willie le Roux in the air. In the second half Le Roux was yellowed for deliberately knocking the ball down trying to intercept, while All Blacks prop Tyrel Lomax also received his marching orders for blocking Cheslin Kolbe on attack.

In total, the Boks have picked up 11 cards in six games this season, 10 yellows and a red, with a yellow each coming against Wales, the first Ireland Test and first All Blacks Test. Against Portugal they picked up two yellows and a red, three yellows in the first Wallabies Test and two yellows in the second All Blacks Test.

Proper Test match thriller

The match had a proper Test match grind to it, with it being an incredibly tight and hard fought affair with neither team managing to get out of the range of the other. In the first half it was only penalties that got the scoreboard ticking; Damian McKenzie slotted three for the visitors while Handre Pollard knocked over one as the All Blacks led 9-3 at halftime.

The second half saw McKenzie miss a long range penalty at the start, before the Boks scored their first try, captain Siya Kolisi smashing his way over, converted by Pollard, to take the lead which they never relinquished over the rest of the game.

McKenzie missed two more shots at goal, one hitting the post and another going wide, while Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu missed a long range penalty and a conversion attempt from the corner, which kept the game in range throughout, but a late Malcolm Marx try with seven minutes to go gave the Boks a bit of breathing room. Kolbe still had time to miss a late drop goal as well.