Black Friday! New Zealand suffer record defeat to Springboks at Twickenham - as it happened
Nobody held back. Nobody was protected. No prisoners were taken.
The All Blacks and Springboks produced a typically bruising and blood-soaked contest the Springboks convincingly won 35-7 in front of 80,000 at Twickenham on Friday, just two weeks before the Rugby World Cup in France.
The near full-strength calibre of the teams emphasized the seriousness with which they regarded their last World Cup warmup. Cup-holder South Africa could be euphoric, six weeks after it was mauled by New Zealand in the Rugby Championship.
The set-piece pressure was relentless and an All Blacks side with more than 1000 caps was unhinged.
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The scoreline smashed South Africa’s previous biggest win over New Zealand, 17-0 in 1928. It also gave South Africa the No. 1 ranking, at least until Ireland plays Samoa on Saturday.
Both teams could potentially meet again in the World Cup quarterfinals, and if they do South Africa has the momentum after a massive marker.
New Zealand was left with a litany of concerns, notably for two frontline forwards. Tighthead prop Tyrel Lomax suffered a gashed right knee, and lock Scott Barrett faces the judiciary after being sent off for two yellow cards.
When Ethan de Groot lay on the turf needing his right knee strapped in the first half, the coaches were visibly worried.
Barrett was marched in the 39th minute when New Zealand was already trailing 14-0, the halftime score.
South Africa made the man advantage count on the scoreboard. More tries came from forwards Malcolm Marx, Bongi Mbonambi while Pieter-Steph du Toit was in the sin-bin, and Kwagga Smith, the seventh forward in the reserves.
All five Springboks tries were converted by Mannie Libbok, who silenced his critics with a perfect record on the night after making half of his goalkicks in his previous two tests.
The start of the test was a complete turnaround from Auckland in mid-July, when the All Blacks blasted to 17-0 in less than 20 minutes and took charge. This time, the Springboks brought all the pressure without the points. In the first five minutes, Du Toit was held up, and Makazole Mapimpi stepped in touch near the left corner.
- AP
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That's all folks for the live blog. Be sure to rate the players and catch the latest on nzherald.co.nz for all your All Blacks updates and news.
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Click here to read Liam Napier's match report from London: Injuries, cards and a deflating defeat equates to carnage at a heaving Twickenham for the All Blacks
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You've got to imagine the All Blacks could be without Scott Barrett for at least a couple of games through suspension after the red card. It'll hit hard. Already one lock down due to Brodie Retallick’s knee injury, the All Blacks can ill-afford to lose Barrett from their thin second-row stocks.
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Cane says as a forward pack they have plenty of work to do ahead of the World Cup on September 9.
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To say he looks dejected would be an understatement.
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Sam Cane says the Boks' ability to dominate the set piece played them off the park. "It certainly stings. It's a game that we're going to have to learn from and learn quickly."
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The All Blacks social media team haven't taken it well. They've congratulated the Springboks on X, formerly known as Twitter saying: "Thanks for the game. Not our night."
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If you haven't seen it, here's where it really went downhill for the All Blacks.
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Records are made to be broken.
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Simply put, the Springboks crushed the All Blacks today. That was some performance.
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The All Blacks are their toughest critics and it will be interesting to see what they make of this post-match.
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Let us know how you think the players went in our ratings. I think Mark Talea was our best but that was horrific. Ill-discipline cost us the game and South Africa have put the World Cup on notice.
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After 81-minutes, the All Blacks suffer their worst ever defeat going down 35-7. Up the Wahs!
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South Africa are defending hard and look to have knocked on the ball while contesting a ruck. The game is now over.
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Roigard tries a hero pass but it's intercepted. Nothing doing so back to the penalty right in front of the sticks. Time is up on the clock as the All Blacks take the tap and go.
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Less than 30 seconds out they've been given a penalty advantage.
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The All Blacks have manage to park themselves in the South Africa 22m and are trying their best to get over the try line.
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The Qatar Airways Cup looks to be South Africa's. There's less than 2min left now and many of the fans are making for the exits.
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35-7 the score, with less than 5. The All Blacks are on attack now and in the South Africa 22m and low and behold ALB has knocked it on.
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Penalty given to the All Blacks for a ruck infringement. They put it out in the Boks 22m but lose the line out. There's only six minutes to go and it can't happen soon enough.
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South Africa have won an All Blacks line out on their side of halfway. They're doing their best to edge their way down field now but have knocked it on. Roigard makes another impressive dart upfield but gets run down.
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Very nearly run down, momentum carried the halfback over the line. We needed that. After 72 minutes though, it's too little too late.
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The 22-year-old has burst away from several defenders to go 60 metres. What a run.
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TRY!! Cam Roigard dots over for a beauty.
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Another unfun fact: The All Blacks' heaviest ever defeat is by 21 points. In 1999, they lost 28-7 to Australia and again in 2019 they lost to Australia 47-26.
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In the 68th minute, the Springboks now lead 35-0.
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This is a massacre.
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TRY! Kwagga Smith dots down after a classy line-out.
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The kick was thumped down to about 7m out from the All Blacks line.
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Fingers crossed that was the plan.
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And now the penalty. Right on the dot in the middle of the park on halfway.
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South Africa get a penalty advantage from the scrum. It was a beauty that had the All Blacks retreating quickly.
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Unfun fact: 1964 was the last time the All Blacks scored 0. It was 0-0 against Scotland. Frankly, we'd rather be watching that.
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The All Blacks get a free kick just on their side of halfway after an early shove from South Africa. Mark Talea makes a decent run down the right-hand side but a few phases later the All Blacks knock it on
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Cane is off. Big Dalts comes on with less than 20 to go. Roigard has replaced Aaron Smith too.
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Hilariously, the NZR+ app has chosen this moment to invite subscribers to share their favourite All Blacks videos across social media.
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28-0 to South Africa. Four converted tries to nothing.
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Death, taxes, and a devastating South African rolling maul. With 60min gone, Sam Cane tries to rally the troops but this could get messy.
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AND TRY! Bongi Mbonambi rolls over
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Now prepare for a South Africa rolling maul. They're just over 5m out.
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Rate the players - tell us how you think the All Blacks have performed by clicking on the link at the top of this file. Be gentle.
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Scrum now. All Blacks feed inside their own half. And it's messy but Will Jordan threatens down the right flank before Tupou Vaa’i knocks it on cold. He then gives away a penalty for not releasing.
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Pieter-Steph du Toit's yellow card will remain a yellow. No further sanction.
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The All Blacks line-out was messy but the ball was lost forward from South Africa. After a very short advantage, Richie Mo'unga's clearance kick was charged down but de Klerk has kicked it dead trying to sneak the ball behind the All Blacks.
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Faf de Klerk feeds a scrum inside their own 22m. It's a clean scrum and the Springboks find touch in the All Blacks half.
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Hey Jude is getting a good play over the speakers and the crowd are getting well involved as we await some strapping to South Africa replacement hooker Bongi Mbonambi.
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On replay, du Toit is actually a bit unlucky. He was a little bit late to the party. Cane was falling and the swinging arm caught him. Still, it's direct contact and deserved a yellow.
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Cane had the ball and got smacked in the head by a poorly timed du Toit tackle. Jordie Barrett punches it down to the South Africa 22m ... and now we've knocked it on.
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INJURY WATCH: Sam Cane was slow to get up. Actually, he got clocked in the head by Pieter-Steph du Toit. It was nasty and meets the yellow-card threshold. The All Blacks get a big chance now to shift the game.
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It's been 51 minutes and the second half is about as depressing as the first. It's still 21-0 but it's been far from pretty. The All Blacks have the ball at halfway.
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Tamaiti Williams and Josh Lord are coming on for Ethan de Groot and Sam Whitelock.
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Excuse me, ref, did you see this?!
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It might be time for us to revisit this story. The All Blacks' five biggest defeats
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The All Blacks threatening to score but have lost the ball forward. Will Jordan, being driven into touch, tries to flick it back but it's foward. Scrum to South Africa 5m from their line.
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That was almost goodnight nurse for the All Blacks.
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Moodie's amazing try taken away from him. After a messy ruck he was deemed off-side and penalised.
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HANG ON! The TMO has been called into weigh into the ruck before the try.
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TRY! Canan Moodie has scored one of the greatest individual tries after Rieko Ioane fails to scoop a loose ball up from halfway.
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After more back and forth, Richie Mo'unga takes down the ball between the 22m and halfway on the All Blacks side. The All Blacks try for a few phases before booting it away.
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The Springboks are making changes just over 3 minutes into the second half with seven or so forwards from their bench about to take the field.
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Manie Libbok converts. South Africa lead 21-0.
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From the restart, South Africa kicked it deep and Beauden Barrett failed to punch it back a considerable way. The ball flew out and from the line-out, South Africa have made New Zealand pay.
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TRY! Malcolm Marx crosses over to take the lead out to 19-0
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And we're about to get under way for the second half. The All Blacks are of course one man down for the remaining 40, and trail South Africa by 14 to nil.
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The major talking point from that half will be Scott Barrett's clean out of Malcolm Marx. A big shoulder right to the noggin. He'll be in big strife for that.
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The Boks will be wondering how they only have a lead of 14 points. And they were lucky the All Blacks fluffed that strike from Will Jordan. There are seven forwards on the South African bench - they'll be fired up to take shot at the knackered All Black pack as the second-half gets underway.
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The All Blacks head for what promises to be a busy debrief in the changing room as a stunned nation puts the kettle on and tries to think who else can play lock against France. At this stage, they'd be starting with Sam Whitelock and Tupou Vaea with a big question-mark over who covers the position from the bench.
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HALF TIME: 14-0 to South Africa. That was one of the longest halves of all time.
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Will this ever end? After a bit of back and forth, Damian Willemse decides it's time for oranges.
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Richie Mo'unga kicks for touch. New Zealand are 5m out and lose the line out. South Africa thump it downfield and Will Jordan makes a skirt down the left-hand side.
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Talea a play before Jordan crosses over knocks it on. Grr! But South Africa gave away a penalty. The penalty count is 11-4 by my estimates.
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Oh no! The ref is checking something else with the TMO
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Talea weasels his way towards the line and after another ruck Will Jordan manages to cross over for the All Blacks' first points of the game.
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Playing advantage to New Zealand after a ruck infringement. Beauden and Jordie combine for valuable metres. The All Blacks are threatening here.
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It's been 40 minutes but the All Blacks have a scrum feed just inside the Springboks half. They will try and make their way to the line.
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Tupou Vaa’i has been brought on for Luke Jacobson with less than 30sec left in the half
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Scott Barrett becomes the first All Black to ever be sent off twice in tests.
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URRRRRRRRRRRGHHHHHHHH!