Springboks clinch 2009 Tri Nations

The Springboks squeezed out another win over the All Blacks on Saturday in an "epic" (in the words of John Smit) test match in Hamilton, to clinch the 2009 Tri Nations tournament, only the third time in the tournament's history that they've managed to win it. It was a must-win game for the All Blacks to have any chance of an unlikely come-from-behind steal of the cup, but they had to win and prevent the Springboks from getting any points on the log to stand a chance. Satisfyingly for Springbok fans, their team went out with real belief and commitment to not just defend their position on the points table, but to win the game - which they did by 32 points to 29.

Springbok brilliance

The Springbok victory was built on their usual pressure game, coupled with a few moments of individual brilliance to score:

• Francois "bazooka" Steyn: we've come to expect long-range kicks from the audacious fullback, but three 50m-plus kicks in a match? Must be some kind of record! And he missed an equally long drop-goal attempt in the second half - but not by all that much!


• Fourie "sniper" du Preez: his try was brilliant. First he put up the kick, then challenged for the catch, doing enough to disrupt Rokocoko's catch. Bakkies Botha then carried strongly to within a couple metres of the line, only for Du Preez to once again get his hands on the ball for a quick snipe to claim the try.


• Jean "interceptor" de Villiers: As he's done so often in the past, he read the All Blacks move to perfection for an easy steal and run in to score under the posts.

Apart from the significance of the match in the context of this year's Tri Nations tournament, it was also a special moment for a couple of other reasons:

• It was the third Springbok victory in a row over the All Blacks - when last did that happen?


• As long as he's been playing for the Springboks, this was John Smit's first win over the All Blacks in New Zealand! Lately there's been a lot of hype about how the Springboks are the world's best team yadda yadda, but let's not forget the All Blacks have had the edge over them in the last few years, particularly in the Tri Nations.

All Blacks not too shabby

Although the All Blacks couldn't quite do enough to win the match, they played their part in a gripping encounter, looking particularly dangerous with the ball in hand. They had a fair amount of success spreading it wide to outflank the Springbok defence (which, it must be said, was awesome on the day), and won the second half. Unfortunately they were once again let down by a misfiring lineout which took away a lot of their momentum, or the result could have been different. Although at the moment they're not quite the force they have been for so long, this is still an awesome team that'll beat most teams any day of the week.