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 21 August 2008 20:51 BST

Carter kicks All Blacks to victory over Springboks

Saturday, 05 Jul 2008 19:40
Dan Carter kicked 14 points for New Zealand
Dan Carter kicked 14 points for New Zealand as they won the opening match of the Tri Nations 19-8 over South Africa in Wellington.

The fly-half also set up Jerome Kaino for the home side's only try of the match, but Kaino's score was decisive as the All Blacks defence kept the world champions at bay.

Boks winger Bryan Habana scored the only try of the first half to keep the visitors in touch going into the break but Graeme Henry's side dominated the second half to claim a comfortable victory.

Carter gave the Kiwis the lead early on with a simple penalty before the Springboks muscled their way into the match.

Tempers frayed midway through the opening period when John Smit and Brad Thorne came to blows. That led to a South African penalty which Butch James converted to level things at 3-3.

Carter kept the scoreboard ticking over with two more penalties and the fly-half's cross-field kick almost set up a try for Rudi Wolf but the winger was put in to touch ten metres from the try line.

South Africa then breached the All Blacks defence as a well-timed run from Jean de Villiers released Habana, who was too fast for Mils Muliaina and Sitiveni Sivivatu and touched down in the corner.

The home side restored their cushion at the start of the second half when Carter threw a beautiful pass to Thorne, he passed it on to Kaino who had the simplest of finishes.

Carter added the extras to extend the lead. He almost set up a second try ten minutes later only for the referee to disallow it, ruling that Conrad Smith had been in front of Carter when the fly-half placed a kick for Smith to chase.

Francois Steyn came off the bench for South Africa and almost got his side back in the match but his incredible drop-goal attempt from inside his own half fell just short of the crossbar.

Carter added a penalty late on to seal the match and put the All Blacks on top of the Tri Nations table.

The next match in the series will be between New Zealand and South Africa in Dunedin next week.End of story


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