Townsville (Australia) (AFP)

Barely victorious over South Africa (19-17) on Saturday, New Zealand unblinkingly retained its title in the Rugby Championship, the championship of the southern hemisphere.

In Townsville (Australia), the 100th confrontation in history between the two titans of the ovale offered a breathtaking match ... and a coronation that already extended its arms to the All Blacks.

With 24 points in the standings and only one game remaining to be played, the All Blacks can no longer be overtaken by the Boks (11 pts), nor by Australia (9 pts) and Argentina (0 pts), already too far away behind even before facing each other on Saturday.

They are establishing their domination a little more on this championship which they have won 18 times in 26 editions.

And are still in contention for the Grand Slam, which they will conquer on October 2, at the same time as the Freedom Cup, in the event of another victory against the South Africans.

- Aggressive defense -

The New Zealanders started off with their feet to the ground, with a try in the second minute.

In his half of the field, Codie Taylor made a breakthrough in the South African lines, allowing Will Jordan to go alone towards the in-goal (7-0, 4th).

South African Eben Etzebeth tackled by New Zealander Ethan Blackadder, September 25, 2021 in Townsville Patrick HAMILTON AFP

But unusually feverish, the Kiwis in turn made mistakes, like the one that led to the South African response: without pressure on the reception of a harmless candle, winger George Bridge completely missed , and S'busiso Nkosi, opportunist, caught the ball to flatten.

The opener Handré Pollard then missed the transformation, leaving his team with two points (7-5, 6th).

The scenario seemed to announce an offensive festival.

It was not, and these two tests turned out to be the only ones of the meeting.

The Blacks stammered too much their rugby against intractable world champions in defense, conceding penalties that allowed the Boks to regain the advantage (11th, 13th).

The aggressive defense of Jacques Nienaber's men allowed them to regain possession several times, like the successful scratching in his 22 meters by Springbok captain Siya Kolisi (17th).

New Zealander Will Jordan avoids a tackle by South African Siya Kolisi, September 25, 2021 in Townsville Patrick HAMILTON AFP

But she ended up playing against them, earning them several penalties and even a yellow card, for Nkosi.

The winger made a forward on a pass that would lead to a probable New Zealand test ... and with the penalty thus conceded, the Blacks turned in the lead at the break (13-11, 35th).

- Scorers' duel -

In the second half, the faults further aborted the opportunities for both teams: a high tackle from Makazole Mapimpi in the 22 meters of the Blacks (47th), or an offside from TJ Perenara (64th) on a New Zealand scrum.

The match then turned into a scoring duel between Handré Pollard and Jordie Barrett on the penalties obtained by the two teams: the Boks took the advantage (14-13, 57th), before losing it (16-14, 60th) , then to win it back (17-16, 67th) ...

The South African Handre Pollard clears the ball against the All Blacks, September 25, 2021 in Townsville Patrick HAMILTON AFP

But in an unbridled end of the match, with unsuccessful breakthroughs on each side, it was New Zealand who went for the victory, with a nice penalty of 40 meters in the corner of Jordie Barrett (19-17, 78th).

© 2021 AFP