Six-try New Zealand thrash South Africa in 41-13 victory

New Zealand 41-13 South Africa, AMI Stadium
Scorecard

The All Blacks handed over a convincing thrashing to the Springboks to secure an assertive 41-13 victory at the AMI Stadium in Christchurch during the 2016 Rugby Championship clash on Saturday.

The hosts ran six tries against one scored by the visitors with four coming in the second-half. The Boks had a reasonable first-half conceding only a five points lead, however, the hosts stepped-up the tempo after the half-time break to bag 26 points while the visitors managed to score just a penalty; adding only three points to their tally.

Fly-half Beauden Barrett opened the account for the hosts by successfully slotting a penalty in the ninth minute.
The Boks got their ball rolling on the 19th minute when right-wing Bryan Habana, aided by a brilliant pass by number-eight Warren Whiteley, scored the opening try of the game.

Fly-half Elton Jantjies added the extras with the conversion, however, spilled the restart within his own 22 to put his side under immense pressure.

Grabbing onto the opportunity with both hands, the All Blacks scored from the scrum with help of Barrett, who fed it to right-wing Israel Dagg, who went on to score the touch down.

Barrett, however, failed to make the conversion with the scoreline staying intact on 8-7.

The All Blacks defence once again got the worst out of the visitors by forcing an error left-wing Julian Savea scored the second-try for the home side on the 28th minute. Barrett made no mistakes this time with the conversion as the All Blacks extended their lead to eight points.

A late 37th minute penalty at the cusp of the half-time whistle allowed Jantjies to have a go at the posts. The 26-year-old's three-pointer reduced the deficit down to five points for the Boks.

Coach Steve Hansen's men came all guns blazing as the hosts changed gears and took control of the proceedings throughout the second-half.

Jantjies' overshot the clearing kick on the 48th minute to present a wonderful opportunity to the All Blacks. Four phases later, fullback Ben Smith crossed over the try line.

Barrett's conversion extended the lead to 12 points as the scoreboard read 22-10 after 50 minutes.

A 53rd minute successful penalty from Jantjies scaled back some of the lead, however, the hosts scored three ties within a span of 15 minutes to seal the match convincingly.

Flanker Ardie Savea scored the fourth All Blacks try on the 55th minute following a back-of-the-hand pass from scrum-half Aaron Smith.

Barrett conversion extended the lead to 16 points for the home side with 22 minutes remaining on the clock.
Sam Whitelock, playing as the blindside flanker, scored the fifth try of the game for the hosts in the 64th minute following an attacking lineout.

Barrett's mixed bag at the office continued as the 25-year-old missed another conversion.

Replacement scrum-half TJ Perenara scored the sixth and the final try of the match for the home side after running from the back of the scrum. Barrett's successful conversion sealed the proceedings for the All Blacks as the lead was now extended to 28 points with the visitors knowing the fate of the game with just about eight minutes left on the clock.

The Boks failed to make any further addition to their points tally as the All Blacks secured the bonus-point win.
Coach Hansen's side has further cemented its place at the top of the points table after securing four bonus-point wins from as many numbers of clashes in the 2016 edition of the Rugby Championship.

The Boks have now lost a position to the Wallabies after slipping down to third in the table.

The All Blacks have looked pretty invincible throughout the tournament and will be hoping to carry on the momentum as they face Argentina next Saturday at the José Amalfitani Stadium in Buenos Aires on next Saturday.