Springboks break ‘Calabash jinx’ in third Test against All Blacks

The Springboks broke the “Calabash curse” with their win over the All Blacks on Saturday.

South Africa defeated New Zealand 29-24 in the third Test to take one step closer to sealing Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry series.

Heading into the game, the Springboks’ record was 0-2 at the FNB Stadium in Soweto.

What happened in the third RGR Test?

The match was a ding-dong clash, with South Africa and New Zealand trading blows throughout the 80 minutes.

All Blacks’ captain Ardie Savea scored a try in the 11th minute, with Ruben Love converting.

South Africa hit back 11 minutes later through an unconverted try by wing Kurt-Lee Arendse.

Savea then crossed the whitewash to extend the lead, with the TMO needing to check the build-up play first.

Just before half-time, South Africa levelled the score after putting New Zealand under scrum pressure, with referee Nika Amashukeli awarding a penalty try.

The teams then went into the shed even at 12-12.

The All Blacks took the lead again in the 56th minute thanks to some Will Jordan brilliance.

However, just a minute later, Jesse Kriel broke through the defensive line to level the scores again.

Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu made no mistake with the conversion to give the Springboks the lead.

Game turned

The game then turned in South Africa’s favour, with Malcolm Marx crashing over from the rolling maul for a converted try.

Feinberg-Mngomezulu then extended the gap with a successful penalty in the 71st minute.

With the clock in the red, New Zealand showed their mettle to score at the death.

However, the Springboks had finally exorcised their demons with a historic 29-24 win.

At the Calabash, South Africa lost both previous Tests against the All Blacks in 2010 (29-22) and 2012 (32-16).

South Africa now leads the Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry series 2-1 heading into the fourth and final Test in Baltimore in the United States on Saturday, 12 September.

Kick-off is at 23:00 (SA time).

Deon Fourie extends record, Siya Kolisi makes more history

Meanwhile, utility forward Deon Fourie extended his record as the oldest-ever Test player to represent the Springboks.

He already held the record after starting in the 33-26 win in Cape Town on Saturday, 29 August.

Fourie made an appearance off the substitute’s bench to extend his record further, which now stands at 39 years and 345 days.

He was already the oldest player to debut for his country, according to Springbok Rugby History.

Siya Kolisi also enriched his record as a visionary captain.

He has now surpassed John Smit’s total wins as Springbok skipper, adding to his impressive resume as a two-time World Cup-winning leader.

With the victory in Soweto, the loose forward now has 55 wins at the helm which is a 74.3% win-rate.

South Africa now looks ahead to a historic Test against the All Blacks on US soil.

WHO WAS THE STANDOUT PLAYER FOR THE SPRINGBOKS IN THE THIRD TEST?