All Blacks ease pressure on coach Ian Foster with away win over Springboks

David Havili and Scott Barrett scored late tries as New Zealand eased the pressure on their coach, Ian Foster, with a stirring comeback victory over the world champions in Johannesburg.

The All Blacks captain, Sam Cane, who has also been under severe scrutiny back home after three successive defeats, and the hooker Samisoni Taukei also scored tries as New Zealand silenced the 61,519 crowd at Ellis Park to claim a deserved win.

The Springboks were not as clinical as they had been in their 26-10 victory over the visitors last week as they scored tries through their sublime centre Lukhanyo Am and wing Makazole Mapimpi, but faced inspired opponents.

Whether the victory is enough to save Foster’s job will become clear in the coming days, as New Zealand prepare to host Argentina in their next Rugby Championship encounter in a fortnight. The Springboks will travel to play Australia in a chastened mood.

The All Blacks were better in the scrum, breakdown and under the high ball, all areas they had struggled in seven days ago in Mbombela.

“Proud is an understatement,” Cane said. “Adversity really challenges your character and this group has that.

“We had to get a few parts of our game right as this is one of the toughest places in the world to come and play. We were a lot better at the breakdown and dealt with the contests better. We defended the maul well.

“That is what Test footy is all about, getting the small things right to build pressure.”

It took until the second quarter for New Zealand to open the score with a penalty but they accelerated into a 15-0 lead that stunned the home crowd.

The All Blacks kept possession from a Caleb Clarke break and Cane crossed in the corner, before Taukei’aho barged over from close-range after