A late Jordie Barrett penalty saw New Zealand clinch the Rugby Championship with an “ugly” 19-17 victory over South Africa in the historic 100th Test between the arch-enemies on Saturday.
In a torrid affair with a high error count in Townsville, the All Blacks led 13-11 at half-time and both sides traded penalties through the second period until Barrett landed the killer blow from 43 metres with two minutes remaining.
It gave the unbeaten All Blacks an unassailable lead in the Rugby Championship with one round remaining.
“If ever you’re going to take an ugly win, we’ll take that,” relieved All Blacks coach Ian Foster said. “Clearly it was going to be a big arm wrestle. We tried to break it open but couldn’t. It wasn’t pretty but I loved the attitude at the end.—AFP
