Sunday 8 October 2017 11:46, UK
New Zealand captain Kieran Read praised South Africa for "pushing us all the way" in the final round of the 2017 Rugby Championship.
The world leaders headed to South Africa with the competition's title already in the bag and off the back of a 57-0 thumping of their opponents a few weeks ago in Albany.
In Cape Town, however, the distance between the two teams never extended beyond five points. Allister Coetzee's side pushed their opponents all the way to the final whistle and looked a far cry from the side that suffered such a torrid time during their last meeting.
"What a game, what a crowd," said All Blacks skipper Kieran Read. "It was an awesome game and credit to the Springboks.
"They certainly came out a totally different beast , they pushed us all the way. We knew it would be tough and it took over 80 minutes for us to get over the line, we just had to hang in there.
"The Springboks were getting over the gain-line with their big boys carrying down the middle, so we will need to look at our defence."
Despite the disappointment of falling agonisingly short, Springboks skipper Eben Etzebeth took the opportunity after the full-time whistle to hail the fortitude of his side.
"It was an unbelievable performance and I'm so proud of the boys. We did not get the result we wanted, but the performance was much better," said the captain.
"We just have to stick together and keep working hard and then, hopefully the results will come. The fightback showed that we were all warriors out there. We really appreciated the crowd support."
South Africa's next match will be against Ireland, live on Sky Sports, on November 11. The outing marks the start of a four-Test tour with matches against France, Italy and Wales on consecutive weekends thereafter.
For New Zealand, it's a final Bledisloe encounter with Australia before meeting the Barbarians at Twickenham Stadium on November 4. After that they will then face France, Scotland and Wales.
Although Steve Hansen's side finished the 2017 Rugby Championship on a high note injuries to Beauden Barrett and Nehe Milner-Skudder will be a concern.
