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Springboks win Tri-Nations
The Springboks found something to do in boring Hamilton - celebrate a rare Tri-Nations triumph as they completed a season clean-sweep over the All Blacks to underline their status as the best team in world rugby.
And in the end there could be no argument about either the result or the immediate implications - the Boks, with their fabulously one-dimensional game of kick-and-chase pressure, have the wood on the All Blacks two years out from the next World Cup. Whether that means anything come 2011, well, only those with a fully functional crystal ball could tell us.
But for now the South Africans own the All Blacks. They've won all three matches between rugby's fiercest enemies in 2009 and, significantly, they've now also won their last two tests on New Zealand soil. They also captured just their third Tri-Nations title after they held off a furious New Zealand finish to prevail in a thrilling test match.
But what will the All Blacks take from a scintillating final half-hour that saw them roar back from 17 points down and go within a fingertip's distance of stealing a sensational victory?
The Boks had looked to be cruising at 32-22 as the match ticked into its final few minutes, but a Richie McCaw try via a Dan Carter crosskick with less than two minutes left, and a sublime, and speedy, sideline conversion from the superboot reduced the margin to three points with 90 seconds left.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/nz-newspapers...in-Tri-Nations