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Springboks beat All Blacks with record score in Wellington

The Boks are now back in the race for this year's Rugby Championship title after scoring a famous win in Wellington.

The Springboks scored six tries — five of them in the second half — to smash the All Blacks 43-10 in a sensational performance in a Rugby Championship Test in Wellington on Saturday.

The win comes a week after the Boks went down 24-17 in Auckland.

Rassie Erasmus’ team dominated from start to finish and scored six sensational tries for a record margin victory of 33 points. The Boks won the second half 36-0, keeping the All Blacks scoreless.

The South Africans’ chances of retaining the Rugby Championship trophy, after winning it last year, remain intact. All four teams in the competition have now won two and lost two games, with two to go.

The Bok team showed several changes from the side that lost at Eden Park and were then further disrupted with early injuries Lood de Jager, Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, and later on, Aphelele Fassi.

While the All Blacks scored first through debutant Leroy Carter, the Boks hit back with a first half try by Cheslin Kolbe, who intercepted an All Blacks pass to run in from distance and then in the second half the world champions scored further tries by Kolbe, Damian Willemse, Kwagga Smith, RG Snyman and Andre Esterhuizen. Manie Libbok kicked six out of seven shots at goal.

The Boks enjoyed superiority in the territory department and made the most of the chances they created, especially in the second half. Every Bok player delivered a standout performance, but Willemse was especially good at inside centre, Ethan Hooker was brilliant out wide, while Libbok, Esterhuizen and Snyman enjoyed great outings from off the bench.

Pieter-Steph du Toit and Siya Kolisi were also outstanding in the forwards, with Jasper Wiese and Ruan Nortje not far behind.

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Jacques van der Westhuyzen

Jacques manages the daily sports offering for online and print at The Citizen. He previously worked as a senior rugby and golf writer for The Star and Independent Media’s weekend print and online publications. He has travelled extensively with the Springboks, touring to Europe, Australia, New Zealand and Argentina to cover tours and Test matches. He has also covered several World Sevens Series tournaments, including in Hong Kong. Jacques has covered well over 100 Test matches and numerous other rugby encounters across South Africa. He has also covered a number of the biggest golfing tournaments held in South Africa as well as the 2003 Cricket World Cup. He is passionate about all things sport, with athletics at the top of his great sporting loves. He has 25 years’ experience in mainstream media, as a writer, sub-editor and editor. He is a former recipient of a Sasol Springbok rugby writing award. If you give him a gap, he’ll talk all day about running, on the road and on trails. He’s run numerous marathons and also completed the famous Comrades ultra marathon in KZN. When he’s not running, you might find him on the golf course or squash court, two other favourites past-times.

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