Last-gasp Springboks penalty ends All Blacks’ unbeaten run

Pat Lambie kicked a penalty from his own half with a minute to go to deliver a breathless 27-25 win for South Africa over New Zealand on Saturday, the world champions’ first loss in two years.

Replacement fly-half Lambie’s 55-metre kick settled a pulsating Rugby Championship test at Ellis Park in Johannesburg.

Already Rugby Championship winners for a third straight year, the All Blacks had shown their world-champion resilience to come back from 11 points down with 15 minutes to go to lead in the dying minutes.

In a crucial decision, referee Wayne Barnes took advice from a television official to take play back to an illegal tackle by New Zealand, and Lambie was on target with his 79th-minute match-winning penalty from far out.

South Africa made all the running in the first half, and New Zealand had control of the game through the second, as the two top-ranked teams in the world extended their reputation for throwing up memorable battles.

The Springboks scored all three of their tries in the first half through scrumhalf Francois Hougaard and two from starting flyhalf Handre Pollard.

Down 24-13, New Zealand found their game late on with tries by winger Ben Smith in the 66th minute and replacement hooker Dane Coles four minutes later to apparently rip the game from South African hands and keep alive a 22-test unbeaten run, one short of their own world record.

But Lambie kept his head in front of a sell-out crowd of 62,000 to win the game right at the very death, and send the World Cup holders to their first loss since December 2012 when they lost 38-21 to England at Twickenham.