By Ben-Piet Lotter
On Saturday the Springboks arrived late to the action, finding themselves 17-3 behind after 20 minutes in Auckland and ultimately, were unable to pull themselves back into the game even though they outscored New Zealand in the second half by 17-15.
Similarly, Alberton were caught napping early on when Bryce Nicholson scored in the corner for Raiders, just 58 seconds into the match. At nine minutes Raiders flanker Brendan O’Donoghue got over the whitewash again. In what felt a bit like déjà vu, Alberton, with only one converted penalty, found themselves 14-3 behind after 20 minutes. The players took to the field after half time with the score at 21-13 to Raiders. A penalty try to Alberton got them back in range but Raiders stepped up a gear and scored twice in the last twenty minutes. As if it was scripted, the match ended at 35-20 to Raiders and 35-20 to the All Blacks; heartbreak for the Elande and Springboks. John Khubeka had an outstanding game in the 12 jersey for Raiders, converting all 5 tries and dotting down one of his own, registering a tally of 15 points and bagging another Castle Lager Man of The Match award.
