South Africa kept alive their hopes of an unbeaten Rugby Championship campaign with a masterful comeback victory over the All Blacks at Ellis Park in Johannesburg.
Trailing until the 67th minute, the Boks did as the Boks normally do and methodically worked their back into the contest with two late tries to Kwagga Smith and Grant Williams sealing the deal.
Stealing the show once again was young flyhalf Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, who kept his team in touching distance of the All Blacks with a solid effort from the kicking tee and a superb running attack.
Yet, for all of the plaudits coming the Bok’s way, one of their tries is already garnering headlines as a somewhat controversial score.
Touching down for his team’s only first-half try, hooker Bongi Mbonambi controlled the back of the maul with surgical precision before breaking away and clattering through several All Blacks defenders.
Despite the try being awarded quickly, the replays appeared to show the hooker losing contact with the ball in the act of touching down.
Clearly protesting, the Kiwis could be seen making gestures towards the match officials to check the score as Feinberg-Mngomezule lined up his conversion. These protests would be the second questionable part of this play, as they clearly disrupted the flyhalf, who then fell foul of the shot clock as he reset himself before striking the ball.
In the end, the try was awarded, but the conversion wasn’t, and the action continued after what was an interesting passage of play.
🏉 𝕋𝕙𝕖 ℝ𝕦𝕘𝕓𝕪 ℂ𝕙𝕒𝕞𝕡𝕚𝕠𝕟𝕤𝕙𝕚𝕡 🏉
Bongi Mbonambi gets a 𝐓𝐑𝐘 for The Springboks!
🇿🇦 5⃣➖7⃣ 🇳🇿
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