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 Consolation prize 'For honor, for our country'
Posted: Friday November 05, 1999 08:58 AM
ATLANTA (CNN/SI) -- Breyton Paulse's try, the only one of the match, and Percy Montgomery's two drop goals were the stars of the show Thursday as South Africa defeated New Zealand 22-18 in the World Cup playoff game at Millennium Stadium in Cardiff. In a rematch of the 1995 final -- but the first meeting ever of the two arch-rivals on neutral ground -- the Springboks again beat a favored All Black team. No title was at stake this time, but Springboks captain Joost van der Westhuizen said: "We wanted to do it for ourselves, for honor, for our country and to say thanks for all the fans who came over." He also said the win was for flyhalf Henry Honiball, who is retiring from international rugby and will be joining English club Bristol. Van der Westhuizen added, "If you're South African and you're playing against New Zealand it's all you need to get motivated." Montgomery's first drop goal, which just skipped over the crossbar, was the perfect South African reply after Andrew Mehrtens drew first blood a mere minute earlier for New Zealand, sending a penalty sailing between the posts. Honiball's penalty kick gave the Springboks a 6-3 lead, but Mehrtens sent a second penalty over to tie the score again. Paulse, was the star of the first half, outstripping almost every one on the field as he chipped the ball ahead twice. When Christian Cullen dived but failed to hang onto the ball just in front of the tryline, the South African winger made no mistake, giving South Africa a 13-6 lead in the 27th minute. The Springboks never trailed from that point on. Honiball converted the try and added another penalty just before the half, but the Springboks allowed the All Blacks to get back into the match when they conceded two penalties, which Mehrtens slotted over to make the score 16-12 at the interval. Honiball extended the lead to seven points seven minutes into the second half with a penalty after Mehrtens had missed his first shot moments earlier but then the All Blacks marksman closed it back to four with his fifth penalty. Mehrtens took his chance of a sixth penalty after South Africa killed off a promising All Black running raid on 67 minutes and the Springboks held onto a 19-18 lead. But with five minutes of normal time, and an added four for injuries, Montgomery stepped up to bang over his decisive second drop. Poor handling and a lack of passion marked a match between two sides hurting physically and mentally after the Springboks' extra time loss to Australia and the All Blacks' shocking defeat by France in the semifinals. New Zealand's backline appeared to have never recovered from the French battering and the All Blacks points came from six Andrew Mehrtens penalties.
South Africa ensured automatic qualification for the next World Cup but it was a trifling matter after all both teams had endured and the mounting speculation over the futures of coaches John Hart and Nick Mallett and several top players, including Jonah Lomu. Hart said he would not be rushing a decision on whether to stand down or seek a contract extension and added he was unsure of Lomu's future. "I obviously hope he stays in rugby union," said Hart, in reference to rumors Lomu might be heading to league. There is an argument that a playoff for third is cruel to two sets of players who have come through the most devastating defeats of their careers just days earlier. It was obvious that Thursday's match was there to be over and done with, rather than savored by the players, who served up a mostly dull and passionless affair. "I don't think there's been a playoff that either team has enjoyed since the inception of the idea," said Hart. "There's a huge emotional drainage when you get to the semis and miss. I'm not sure a playoff is necessary and I would really question whether it has any real place." New Zealand appeared to wear a heavier burden from its stunning loss to France than the Springboks carried into the playoff from the extra time defeat by Australia. South Africa had always expected a tough struggle in its semi, but New Zealand had led 24-10 five minutes into the second half and was hit with such unexpected brutality that a Palmerston North university has made grief counseling available to All Black fans. "No-one was more disappointed than us about our semi loss but we know there's a huge amount of disappointment back home and that's understandable," said beaten captain Taine Randell, who faces a struggle to keep his job. "If anything it was a huge motivating factor for us to perform well this week. We would have liked to, but tonight we just couldn't break the defense." Lomu, who scored two of his typical storming tries against the French, was left isolated on the left wing and didn't touch the ball for the first 26 minutes Thursday -- plenty of time to ponder the all-consuming question of where he will be heading after the tournament. It was 64 minutes before Lomu got fully wound up, but opposing winger Stefan Terblanche put paid to his hopes of adding to his record eight tries with a well timed ankle tap. As usual for such playoffs the match started in a muted atmosphere, with about 50,000 fans of both teams at the Millennium Stadium unsure whether to laugh or just keep crying. South Africa tried to get a running match going early on but suffered poor handling and the initial points came from kicks.
The Associated Press contributed to this report. | |||||||||||||||||||||||
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