The 10-6 margin was as close as the score indicated and the record crowd of 39,300 gave vent to its feelings with a tremendous cheer for the All Blacks who had achieved this historic win.
Even harder hit by injuries, the South Africans left the field with only 13 men but the six forwards who played New Zealand's seven for much of the second half gave such a splendid performance that the team could have won right up till the last minute.
This tenseness contributed to a true test atmosphere, and there were enough exciting back incidents to rank this game as one of the best internationals played on Carisbrook for years.
Though both sets of forwards were disorganised, they played grand football, and the struggle for possession was possibly the best feature of the game, along with the excellent spirit which always prevailed.
It was sheer misfortune which led first to M. W. Irwin leaving the field at half-time with badly damaged ribs and D. S. P. Ackermann and J. G. du Preez retiring shortly after.
Both South Africans suffered leg injuries, du Preez breaking a bone and Ackermann badly wrenching his knee.
Had both sides been at full strength New Zealand should still have won on the day for the backs made more of their opportunities and the Springboks made more mistakes.
Moreover, the advantage of having one more man in the scrum was offset to a certain extent by the rearrangement needed in the All Black front row.
The South African backs, judging by one scintillating move which resulted in a try, might have pulled the game out of the fire had they not relied so much on the short kick through.
This was often dangerous, but, as in the Otago game, the defence was usually good enough to stop any rushes which followed.
A delight
On the other hand, when a wing threequarter was occasionally brought into the backline, the running and passing were not only a delight to watch, but also a sore trial for the New Zealand flankers, who found it particularly hard to get out to an inside back running at an angle.
However, the fact that a forward had to play on one wing for most of the second half may have restricted the South Africans' ambitions to go for an overlap.
The New Zealand backs were most dangerous in breaks down the centre of the field with play then veering out towards the wings and the splendid form of the Maori second five-eighth, W. N. Gray, was one of the chief factors which led to occasional success by these means.
Considering the heavy state of the ground and the tenseness of a test encounter the proportion of back play was quite generous and the huge crowd, basking in sunshine for most of the match, left the ground satisfied that both sides had at least tried alternatives to winning the game solely in the forwards.
In the opening stages the South African scrum was most impressive and hard pushing allowed the backrow man to hold the ball long enough to discourage the New Zealand flankers from coming around too fast.
This in turn gave the inside backs a chance to get play under way without undue interference.
When New Zealand settled down the battle of tactics was more even and particularly long line-outs helped keep the No. 8 in check as he was never certain which way the opposing inside backs would switch play.
The line-outs were grimly contested and New Zealand did remarkably well to just shade the South Africans in the overall count.
Nevertheless, the team was still not getting the full benefit of possession after 20 minutes of hard striving and the decision made at this stage to put the ball up and go under it proved a wise one.
The Springboks were often disconcerted by these tactics and New Zealand made its breakthrough soon after employing them.
The forwards also supported their backs admirably when short kicks were tried and they won 16 rucks to South Africa's six.
That more was not made of this means of possession was one of the few disconcerting aspects of the team's play.
Though New Zealand had a slight edge in the line-outs the Springboks were clearly superior in the set scrums and they left little doubt about their ability to apply weight at the right moment.
The hooker A. J. van der Merwe showed much better form than he did against Otago, winning three tight heads to R. C. Hemi's one.
Even in the second spell the South African forwards still held their own and, all told, they took the scrums on an average of two to one.
Every All Black forward did his best, however, with R. A. White, R. H. Duff and I. J. Clarke in particular working like men possessed.
D. N. McIntosh was outstanding in the long line-outs and he took the ball just as cleanly as South Africa's best.
White and Duff kept the opposing specialists well in check and S. F. Hill was usually in the thick of the most torrid encounters.
He was not entirely happy in the front row, but was usually on hand when a ruck was formed.
After receiving his painful rib injuries in the first half, Irwin lingered on the sideline hoping to rejoin the team, but it was clear by the interval that he was not fit to continue.
Earlier he had done his share to master the Springboks in the line-outs.
McIntosh and J. B. Buxton had to contend with South Africa's skilful holding of the ball in the set scrums, but their defence was excellent when the opposing halves tried to get past.
Buxton also showed a rare turn of speed out in the open.
The combination between P. B. Vincent and W. R. Archer came up fully to expectations, and there seems little doubt that this pair will take the field in the next test provided Archer's rib injuries have healed in time.
Vincent did not enjoy the latitude given to C. F. Strydom, as the forwards were in danger of being pushed off the ball if they held it even momentarily.
Archer gave a most intelligent display, and his kicking was first class.
He was not called upon to do anything brilliant, but some of New Zealand's best breaks resulted from the service close to the scrum.
In spite of his injuries, received fairly late in the second half, Archer helped considerably in keeping the Springboks out.
Unfortunate Gray was in excellent form, and his eye for an opening often changed the run of play dramatically.
It was most unfortunate that a pass to R. A. Jarden, after he had run 50 yards, was ruled forward, as the flying three-quarter was over the line without any trouble.
The young centre, R. H. Brown, made a break or two and was always willing to keep play moving.
The Springboks directed a lot of their kicks towards him, and though he mis-handled occasionally, he generally helped to hold up the move.
The two threequarters, Jarden and M. J. Dixon, played adventuresome rugby whenever they were given a chance.
Jarden's try was typical of this brilliant opportunist, and, though he took a risk with the interception which led to it, his quick reaction provided one of the thrills of the game.
Dixon took a battering at times through covering up, but he carried on gamely and won the admiration of the crowd for a most enterprising display.
Like Archer, he was very sore about the ribs before the game ended.
P. T. Walsh was not the polished fullback all were hoping to see and some of his line kicks were risky to say the least.
He got through a deal of work, nevertheless, and sometimes picked up the rolling ball excellently.
Led admirably by their captain, J. A. du Rand, the Springbok forwards gave a courageous exhibition, especially in the second half when only six of them had to match New Zealand's seven.
Du Rand and J. T. Claassen pushed with great strength in the tight and though the New Zealand forwards watched them closely in the line-outs they still managed to get a fair share of the ball.
Ackermann's injury was most unfortunate as this player, along with D. F. Retief and G. P. Lochner, contributed largely to South Africa's territorial advantage in the thrilling opening stages.
Then when du Preez was hurt, Lochner, whose tackling kept Gray in check, had to go out on the wing and Retief was left virtually to do the work of three men.
A splendid forward, he did his best to carry out that assignment.
The front row of H. Newton-Walker, van de Merwe and H. P. J. Bekker was most effective and these players did grand work in the tight when the scrum was two men short.
Strydom threw out long and accurate passes to C. A. Ulyate and this good start often hinted at danger to the New Zealand line.
B. F. Howe made one or two tricky runs, but J. J. Nel did most of his attacking by following up kicks.
P. G. Johnstone had to bow to Jarden for all-round play and Dixon also had a slight edge on du Preez in this respect.
R. J. Dryburgh gave an excellent display at fullback and his kicking was much more consistent than Walsh's.
