South Africa gave notice on Saturday that they would not lightly surrender the World Cup when they narrowly lost to the All Blacks at Ellis Park in the Southern Hemisphere Tri-Nations series. But for a missed penalty in the dying minutes by Springbok outside-half Jannie de Beer, which, agonisingly for the partisan crowd, hit the posts and bounced the wrong way, the match would have been drawn.

In the end, however, the All Blacks deserved to win for two reasons: they fought back after trailing by seven points to 23 as the first half drew to a close, and - as important - they scored four tries (two by veteran centre Frank Bunce and one each by wing Jeff Wilson and outside-half Carlos Spencer) against two by the Springboks (hooker Naka Drotske and full back Russell Bennett).

For the disappointed Springboks there were consolations in defeat, including the re-establishment of self-esteem in a year which has seen the resignation of coach Andre Markgraff (after the release of a tape-recording in which he referred to blacks as "kaffirs"), the appointment of a government task team to investigate alleged irregularities in the administration of rugby under Louis Luyt, and defeat by the British Lions. The in-form De Beer - who converted both Springbok tries, slotted four penalties and dropped two goals to notch up a record 22 points against the All Blacks - appeared to solve the problem which plagued South Africa in the lost series against the British and Irish Lions: the absence of a reliable kicker.

Furthermore, the Springbok forwards played with great fire and determination to more than match their powerful counterparts for most of the game.

The tough-minded New Zealand coach, John Hart, acknowledged as much when he said after the game: "Their forwards played very well."

The turning point in the game came between the 36th and 38th minutes in the first half, when first Wilson, and then Spencer, scored spectacular tries to add 12 points (Spencer's try was not converted) and bring the All Blacks to within four points of the Springboks at half-time.

Until then, as Hart admitted, it looked as though the All Blacks were "dead and buried".

The All Blacks left Ellis Park and South Africa having avenged their defeat at the same venue in the final of the World Cup in June 1995, and it was their eighth victory in the 11 tests against the Springboks since South Africa's emergence from the isolation of the apartheid years in 1992.