New Zealand beats South Africa 24-17 in Rugby Championship, extends its Eden Park streak

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AUCKLAND, New Zealand (AP) — New Zealand stretched its unbeaten record at Eden Park to 51 matches with a 24-17 win over world champion South Africa on Saturday in a match played in passing rain and under a hail of Springboks' kicks.

South Africa kicked incessantly in the first half, from scrumhalf, flyhalf and center but without positive effect in a test billed as the biggest of the year.

The All Blacks, coming off a loss to Argentina in Buenos Aires two weeks ago, attacked with ball in hand and scored tries inside 17 minutes to winger Emoni Narawa and fullback Will Jordan, building a lead that the Springboks couldn't break down.

In contrast with the ball in hand, South Africa was often ineffective. The foundations of their attacking play were static and the All Blacks' defense was excellent in unpicking their strength at breakdowns and mauls.

The Springboks still were strong at set pieces from which they scored two tries in the second.

“We just weren’t up to scratch tonight,” Springboks captain Jesse Kriel said. “We made far too many handling errors and just things that weren’t up to standard for us.”

Hooker Malcolm Marx scored in the 62nd minute after a clean tighthead to a superior Springboks scrum. But the All Blacks scored their third try to center Quinn Tupaea when South Africa was a man short, with Kwagga Smith in the sin-bin.

Finally, Cobus Reinach scored from a five-meter scrum and when the Springboks still were down to 14 men, cutting the All Blacks margin with six minutes remaining.

The All Blacks have been brittle in these tight finishes in the recent past but on Saturday they were steely. The Springboks had a late attacking chance from a lineout with two minutes to play but Ardie Savea, in his 100th test, won a turnover.

One last possession for the Springboks and the All Blacks again won a turnover and ended the match.

“The game had everything it was built up to be,” New Zealand captain Scott Barrett said. “The Springboks are not world champs for no reason and they pushed us right to the end there.”

The Springboks’ blitz defense was disruptive at times but also narrow and congested. The All Blacks worked to move the ball wide quickly to exploit the thinner defense on the fringes.

That worked in only the second minute when Billy Proctor’s kick from center gave them field position. From a lineout following Cheslin Kolbe’s poor clearance, Beauden Barrett kicked wide and directly to winger Narawa who gathered, dummied fullback Willie le Roux and scored.

Narawa lasted only a few more minutes in his fourth test in three years, leaving the field with a rib injury. Damian McKenzie came off the bench, moving to fullback while Jordan moved to the wing.

In the 17th minute Beauden Barrett’s 50/22 gave the All Blacks the throw to a lineout deep in Springboks’ territory. Wallace Sititi took the ball off the back and handed off to Jordan who came from depth at pace and went straight through a hole in the Springboks’ defense.

Handre Pollard scored South Africa’s first points from a penalty in the 22nd minute but missed another three minutes later.

The Springboks didn’t create a clear try-scoring chance in the first half, despite a territorial advantage. Their kicking out of hand, even in the All Blacks’ half was often wasteful. They tried the midfield lineout once: the All Blacks quickly countered it.

The All Blacks led 14-3 at halftime and increased it to 17-3 with a Damian McKenzie penalty in the 50th minute.

South Africa finally found its way to the All Blacks’ line in the 62nd minute. First, a massive surge at a scrum gave the Springboks a clean tighthead. Fresh from the bench, Kwagga Smith took the ball forward and close to the Marx picked up the ball and forced his way over.

Smith was shown a yellow card in the 65th minute for a cynical infringement, stopping an All Blacks’ attacking meters out from the Springboks’ line.

The All Blacks stayed on attack, drew in the South African defense in the middle of the field, then went wide and replacement center Quinn Tupaea ran onto Beauden Barrett’s pass on a neat angle and scored.

Then Reinach’s try made the finish thrilling but the All Blacks held on in front of 48,000 fans.

Earlier Saturday, host Australia beat Argentina 28-24.

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AP rugby: https://apnews.com/hub/rugby