adminWELLINGTON. — New Zealand hailed the All Blacks’ stunning 38-27 victory over the Springboks to clinch the Rugby Championship at the weekend as “one of the all-time great games”.
The All Blacks “are now unequivocally and undoubtedly the supreme team in world rugby,” Fairfax Media columnist Marc Hinton wrote yesterday as he led an outpouring of praise in the rugby-obsessed nation.
With New Zealand still recovering from the last month’s shock of losing yachting’s holy grail, the America’s Cup, the All Blacks dominance was a much-needed tonic. The emphatic way they achieved it was also seen as partly easing the heartache of losing the 1995 Rugby World Cup final in extra time to South Africa.
The win at Ellis Park in Johannesburg was only the fourth time in 12 attempts the All Blacks have beaten their arch-rivals at the spiritual home of South African rugby.
In the showdown between the two top-ranked sides in the world, the All Blacks outscored the Springboks five tries to four as they claimed the premier Southern Hemisphere competition for a second consecutive year.
“This match, one the rugby world had waited for, will go down as one of the all-time greats,” rugby writer Liam Napier said on the Stuff website.
In a dig at the All Blacks’ opponents on their upcoming northern hemisphere tour in November — France, England and Ireland — the Herald on Sunday said the Springbok clash was likely to be the All Blacks “toughest test of the year”. “They stood up to the physicality of the Boks and in the end had too much skill and fitness for the home side.” — AFP.
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