Springboks stun All Blacks

Jonah Lomu puts a chip kick through

South Africa 46-40 New Zealand

South Africa made their critics eat their words to stun New Zealand at Ellis Park, Johannesburg.

Written off before the match, the Springboks produced a sparkling performance to score six tries and then kept waves of All Black attacks out in the second half.

In yet another breathtaking match of what has been an exhilirating series, the home side refused to allow their defence to be breached as the seconds ticked away.

There was no way through for the All Blacks who had themselves fought back from 20 points down at one stage to lead midway through the second spell.

Umaga races in for his second try

After eight tries were scored before the break both defences tightened up to allow only one apiece after the interval.

In a dramatic opening 40 minutes, the Springboks wreaked havoc to take an unexpected 33-27 lead into the break.

Robbie Fleck, initially dropped for the match, scored two tries and Chester Williams, Werner Swanepoel and Thinus Delport added three more to stun the All Blacks.

  Scoreboard

South Africa (33) 46. Tries: Delport, Fleck 2, Williams, Swanepoel 2. Cons: van Straaten 5. Pens: van Straaten 2.

New Zealand (27) 40. Tries: Cullen 2, Umaga 2. Cons: Mehrtens 4. Pens: Mehrtens 3. Drop Goals: Mehrtens

Recalled winger Williams opened the Springbok scoring after New Zealand briefly lead through an Andrew Mehrtens penalty.

Fleck scored under the posts minutes later to give the beleagured home side a 14-3 lead.

The All Blacks struck back through Tana Umaga but then Fleck, only playing in place of the injured De Wet Barry, scored again to give the Springboks a deserved 21-13 lead.

They then added to the All Blacks' woes with two quick tries to scrum-half Swanepoel and Delport.

Swanepoel darted over for their fourth try and then Delport sprinted in from 50m as the New Zealand defence opened up once again.

Retained possession

But New Zealand finally retained possession for a period of time and Cullen struck back for the visitors three minutes from half- time to score his 40th Test try and become New Zealand's all-time leading try-scorer.

Then, right on the break Umaga wrong-footed the defence to score under the posts to get them back into the game.

After the break Cullen outpaced Delport on the outside to notch his 41st Test try before a Mehrtens penalty put the All Blacks ahead.

Van Straaten landed his third penalty to put South Africa back in charge before a Mehrtens drop-kick gave New Zealand a one point lead.

But captialising on yet another All Black error Swanepoel, incisive the whole match, darted over for South Africa's sixth try and a six point lead with 14 minutes left.

Despite their best effort the All Blacks could find no way through the Springbok defence as the home side hung on for a remarkable win.