Sunday 5 October 2014 10:38, UK
South Africa coach Heyneke Meyer was delighted to see his side end a three-year losing streak against New Zealand on the final weekend of the Rugby Championship.
The Springboks claimed their first win against the All Blacks since 2011 after Pat Lambie kicked a late penalty from inside his own half to seal a 27-25 success at Ellis Park.
Although New Zealand had already secured the overall Rugby Championship title, Meyer was pleased to end the campaign on a high.
"We are relieved that this is done now. The win was due. We appreciate the compliments the All Blacks gave us afterwards," Meyer said.
He added: "We got unbelievable support this evening. We sensed how much South Africans were behind us as we drove to the ground.
"The singing of the national anthem was awesome. It was an unbelievable Test.
"We played some good rugby this year and at times in this match as well. We had chances to win in Wellington (in the other fixture against New Zealand), and today we took those chances."
No 8 Duane Vermeulen claimed the man of the match honours despite only being passed fit to play following the pre-match warm-up.
Meyer said: "Duane is an incredible warrior. He was not sure if he could play after a run yesterday (Friday) so we decided to wait. I asked him for 80 minutes and I got that."
New Zealand coach Steve Hansen did not criticise the decision to give South Africa the decisive penalty after Liam Messam tackled Schalk Burger high.
"I have no problem with the penalty because Liam made contact with the head," Hansen said.
He added: "We have got no excuses. We were beaten today by a team who played better than us by a little bit."
All Blacks skipper Richie McCaw said: "It was a pretty tough old first half for us, but we kept believing and gave ourselves a chance of winning.
"There was not much in it at the end and I am hugely proud of the boys although it is still disappointing to lose."
