Springboks players face the Haka. Photo: PHOTOSPORT www.photosport.co.nz
It has been 28 years since the All Blacks and Springboks last met in a Rugby World Cup final. The match, won 15-12 by the Boks at Ellis Park, may well be the most famous ever played and was set against a backdrop of drama, intrigue and politics. The following is a part two of a three part extract taken from Jamie Wall's 2021 book The Hundred Years' War: All Blacks v Springboks.
The All Blacks performed the haka with the Springboks only a few feet away on the halfway line, then began one of those emotionally tormented periods that New Zealanders have probably only ever watched once, then tried to forget.
Mehrtens squibbed the kickoff along the deck but the Springboks won a penalty almost immediately; the referee was Englishman Ed Morrison, who had controlled the Bledisloe Cup epic the year before in Sydney that culminated in George Gregan's heroics. Morrison was going to play a pretty pivotal role in the match, given just how tight the nature of it was going to be.
The All Blacks had their best chance early. Mehrtens edged the All Blacks in front with a penalty. Lomu came flying into the backline and seemed destined to charge into the 22 but was lowered by Joost van der Westhuizen and his offload went into the arms of Mark Andrews instead.
His marker, James Small, was in Lomu's face all day. Small had gained a reputation as a wild on field presence, getting sent off by Morrison two years previously against the Wallabies for dissent.
James Small contests with Jonah Lomu in the air. Photo: Touchline/PHOTOSPORT
After that assault from Lomu, the game settled down into a kick-heavy duel between Mehrtens and Joel Stransky.
Mandela and Luyt sat together high up in the Ellis Park members' box, watching on with the president now clad in sunglasses and looking the far more relaxed of the two. He probably figured that he had done his job for the day, the symbolic gesture of simply being on the field with the team that was so beloved by white South Africa was going to go a long way to helping the country move forward.
But what was unfolding in front of them, and the millions watching around the world, was a game that was very much in the Springboks' reach of winning. This wasn't the up-tempo style the All Blacks had been displaying over the last month against the hapless home unions. This was more like the year before in the New Zealand mud, a close quarter bout involving numerous shots, workovers and feints.
These were the heavyweights going at it, and the more it stayed that way, the more chance the Springboks had of pulling off an upset.
Frank Bunce in action during the final of the Rugby World Cup between the All Blacks and South Africa in 1995. Photo: Photosport
Stransky had answered Mehrtens' penalty goal in the 11th minute, before both men tacked on another one each to make the score six-all. The Boks manoeuvred into position to give Stransky a look at the posts from 30 metres out and he snapped over a dropped goal to give them the lead at halftime.
This was brutal rugby, like the year before, and the All Blacks' illness was clearly not helping. Jeff Wilson left the game, replaced by Otago team-mate Marc Ellis. Wilson then spent the rest of the time with his head between his knees on the sideline, dry retching.
Even though they were feeling the lingering effects of the illness, the All Blacks were still hanging in there. Any moment could turn the game either way now.
Mehrtens then calmly slotted a dropped goal in the 55th minute to lock up the scores. Back then, All Black dropped goals weren't as much of a big deal or at least talking point they are now. The Canterbury first five was good for at least a couple of attempts in every game he played and had already slotted two in five previous test appearances. Heck, even Zinzan Brooke had got one in the previous test.
By comparison, Dan Carter took 28 tests before landing one, while Beauden Barrett didn't get a dropped goal to his name until his 71st.
Ellis, who had scored an All Black record six tries in the rout of Japan (mainly due to a bet he'd had with Eric Rush at halftime), was clearly underdone, dropping a couple of key kicks and passes. By the time he shelled a short ball near the Springbok 22, it was becoming obvious to those back home in New Zealand that this game might just be slipping out of the All Blacks' grasp - especially because by now the massive crowd was feeling exactly the same way.
Every tackle on a black jersey was being greeted with a massive roar of approval, every kick down field was warmly applauded. Jaapie Mulder was putting on a defensive masterclass against Walter Little and Frank Bunce, being ably assisted by his loose forwards.
The Springboks weren't actually getting themselves near the try line at all but were doing an exceptionally efficient job of keeping the high powered All Black attack blunted as the game headed to the business end.
As Morrison's watch ticked over the 70 minute mark, it was obvious the game was going to be decided by either Mehrtens' or Stransky's boot.
Mehrtens had the best opportunity to break the 9-9 deadlock just before the end. From just 25 metres out he shanked a drop kick wide of the Ellis Park posts to the delight of the crowd, all the while All Black fans' worst nightmare seemed to be coming true. Where were the wide-open spaces that had seen Jonah Lomu roam free like some sort of Japanese movie monster destroying cardboard buildings? The space that allowed Zinzan Brooke of all people to line up a dropped goal? All that was there was a green wall that was intent on inflicting the most damage possible.
Photo: Photosport Ltd 2019
Just after the ball sailed past the posts, Morrison called full time. Technically, under IRB rules, that meant the official result between the All Blacks and South Africa in their 1995 test match was a 9-all draw, because anything else that happened would be adjudicated by tournament rules. It was the first time a rugby union test match was heading into extra time, and it was shaping up to be the most important test match ever played. Mains and Kitch Christie watched on. Mandela and Luyt watched on. South Africa and New Zealand watched on. The world watched on.
The All Blacks held the advantage. Like the semi-final in Durban, the Springboks' bad disciplinary record would decide the game if it remained tied at the end, given the All Blacks had kept a clean slate throughout the tournament they would win. Not many people actually knew that, so the reaction of the crowd had that been the case would have been interesting to say the least.
But, regardless of the bureaucratic scenarios, it looked as though Mehrtens was going to settle it in a far more traditional way when the Springboks were pinged for offside bang on halfway a couple of minutes after the teams resumed. The altitude that had been sucking the energy out of the All Blacks since 1928 was suddenly about to become their best friend. Mehrtens stepped up and smacked over the penalty goal edged the All Blacks out to a 12-9 lead, a kick that may well have gone down as the greatest shot in the teams' history. The forgotten goal was a truly mighty kick, in an era when monster penalty goals were nowhere near as common as the YouTube hits you see these days.
But the lead only lasted six minutes. Morrison penalised the All Blacks for a ruck infringement just as the first half of extra time ran its course, giving Stransky an attempt that he duly converted to tie the game back up at 12-all. By now, everyone was wondering just what needed to happen to separate the teams. All of the history, all of the heartache, all of the controversy was combining together to push this past the limits of a mere rugby game. Mandela, in his Springbok jersey, could feel that his day was not done. The Springboks were only one score away from having him walk back on the field and reunite with Pienaar for the greatest photo op in South African history.
Tomorrow - Part Three: The Triumph and Heartbreak
