All Blacks off to a flyer
New Zealand got their Tri-Nations campaign off to a perfect start with a 19-8 victory over South Africa in Wellington.
Last Updated: 09/07/08 7:38am
New Zealand got their Tri-Nations campaign off to a perfect start with a 19-8 victory over South Africa in Wellington.
A second-half try from number eight Jerome Kaino proved key for the All Blacks, while 14 points from the boot of Dan Carter helped maintain the advantage against a gritty Springbok side.
New Zealand led early on but were pegged back before the break when winger Bryan Habana crashed over in the left corner to give the visitors hope.
But the Kiwi forwards were dominant in the second half with a fourth penalty from Carter sealing the points 10 minutes from the final whistle.
"This was a very important match for us," said Rodney So'oialo, who replaced Richie McCaw as New Zealand's number seven and captain. "We worked very hard for this all week and we got the result we wanted.
"The first 15 minutes of the second half were crucial. They were hard to crack but we managed to get on top and to stay there."
In a game played at high tempo despite steady rain falling throughout, the South African forwards produced a huge defensive effort but were ultimately unable to contain the rampaging All Blacks.
Carter traded an early penalty with opposite number Butch James, who appeared intent on leaving his mark on the New Zealand stand-off, hitting him with some questionable hits early on.
The Kiwis were lucky not to lose Brad Thorn after he picked up John Smit and slammed him into the ground in retaliation for Smit's high tackle on Conrad Smith, but no cards were shown with James gratefully booting the resulting penalty.
Rare defensive errors
But it was Carter who had the opportunity to put his side in the ascendency, kicking them into a 9-3 lead inside the first half hour although he did waste one chance after Andrew Hore had been penalised for offside
However, rare defensive errors from the hosts allowed Jean de Villiers to slip through before offloading to Habana, who made the most of space down the left flank to slide over in the 35th minute against the run of play.
James missed the conversion and New Zealand were able to put daylight between themselves and the opposition soon after the break, Carter finding Kaino in the line after a swift move from the scrum to cross the whitewash - Carter adding the two points.
The number eight touched down again in the 57th minute after a Carter kick-through, but the referee deemed Kaino to be offside although video replays suggested the call was a marginal one.
Replacement Francois Steyn fired a speculative long-range drop-goal attempt which fell inches short, but Carter slotted a 71st minute penalty to take the game out of South Africa's reach.
The Kiwi forwards camped out in the Springbok 22 for much of the last 10 minutes to quell any thoughts of a late fightback and give the All Blacks a 30th successive Test win on home soil, and extended their opponents' record of not having won there since 1998.
The two teams meet again next Saturday in the second match of the Tri-Nations in Dunedin.
