Springboks back to No 1 in rankings after titanic All Blacks Test

The Springboks won a pulsating ding-dong battle against the All Blacks 31-29 in Gold Coast on Saturday to end their Rugby Championship campaign on a high.

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Elton Jantjies stepped up to the plate to deliver the killer blow in a Test where the Springboks put in a massive second half performance, outscoring the All Blacks by 17-9 in the second half.

Damian de Allende and Makazole Mapimpi scored the Springboks’ tries, on either side of half-time, while Handre Pollard added four penalties.

The SA bench made a massive difference, and Jantjies was pure class towards the end as he kicked his first drop goal in a Test, only to follow that up minutes later with the match-winning penalty goal.

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The Springboks picked up 0.86 World Rugby ranking points for their victory, while the All Blacks lost the same number.

That was enough to see the world champion Springboks move back to No 1 in the standings with 91.13 points, while the All Blacks slipper to 90.97, some 0.16 points behind.

Meanwhile, the Wallabies picked up 0.84 points for their earlier win against Argentina which saw them stay in third place with 86.99 points.

The Pumas stayed eighth despite losing 0.84 points with their 80.69 tally.

SCORERS:

Springboks

Try: Damian de Allende, Makazole Mapimpi

Penalties: Handre Pollard (4), Elton Jantjies (2)

Drop goal: Jantjies

All Blacks

Tries: Sevu Reece, Ardie Savea, Brad Weber

Conversion: Jordie Barrett

Penalties: Barrett (4)

TEAMS:

New Zealand 

15 Jordie Barrett, 14 Sevu Reece, 13 Anton Lienert-Brown, 12 David Havili, 11 Rieko Ioane, 10 Beauden Barrett, 9 Brad Weber, 8 Luke Jacobson, 7 Ardie Savea (captain), 6 Akira Ioane, 5 Scott Barrett, 4 Brodie Retallick, 3 Nepo Laulala, 2 Codie Taylor, 1 Joe Moody

Substitutes: 16 Asafo Aumua, 17 George Bower, 18 Ofa Tu’ungafasi, 19 Patrick Tuipulotu, 20 Ethan Blackadder, 21 TJ Perenara, 22 Richie Mo’unga, 23 Damian McKenzie

South Africa

15 Willie le Roux, 14 Sbu Nkosi, 13 Lukhanyo Am, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Makazole Mapimpi, 10 Handre Pollard, 9 Faf de Klerk, 8 Duane Vermeulen, 7 Kwagga Smith, 6 Siya Kolisi (captain), 5 Lood de Jager, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Trevor Nyakane, 2 Bongi Mbonambi, 1 Ox Nche

Substitutes: 16 Malcolm Marx, 17 Steven Kitshoff, 18 Vincent Koch, 19 Franco Mostert, 20 Jasper Wiese, 21 Herschel Jantjies, 22 Elton Jantjies, 23 Frans Steyn