New Zealand (6) 33
Tries: Leonard, Evans, Carter
Cons: Carter (3)
Pens: Carter (4)
South Africa (3) 6
Pen: Hougaard (2)
New Zealand defeated a gritty South Africa to set up a Tri-Nations decider against Australia next Saturday.
After a largely kick-dominated game, Brendon Leonard scored the opening try with just 11 minutes left after Joe Rokocoko's camouflaged pass.
Nick Evans added another score in the corner late on and Dan Carter finished off a 12-pass move to add the third try after the final hooter had sounded.
South Africa finish the Tri-Nations campaign bottom of the table.
But they showed great determination and remained in the contest until the final minutes of the match when the All Blacks finally broke down their resolute defence.
Once again South Africa fielded a sub-strength team, but from the start they showed a real intent to run the ball, with JP Pietersen making good early yards.
Having missed an early chance, Carter put New Zealand ahead on nine minutes with the first of his four penalties.
Derick Hougaard levelled the scores but by the time Carter restored the All Blacks' three-point advantage on 24 minutes, it was already the 10th penalty of the game, which summed up the disappointing quality of the first half.
The nearest either side came to a try in the first half was when Piri Weepu threw a brilliant pass to Luke McAlister, who sidestepped to put himself in a great attacking position.
A try seemed there for the taking but McAlister's pass out wide was poor and the ball went into touch.
Hougaard missed another penalty attempt just before the break, but hit the target six minutes after the restart to level the score for a second time.
Carter landed his third penalty to restore the New Zealand advantage, as Pedrie Wannenburg was sin-binned for killing the ball at a ruck.
The home team then found some attacking rhythm, working the ball through 10 phases of play close to the Springbok line as they went in search of a try.
Again South Africa, down to 14 players, held out and won a crucial penalty close to their line - but the decision was reversed when Albert van den Berg was adjudged to have stood on an opponent's head.
Carter made no mistake with a simple penalty to extend his team's lead, putting them 12-6 ahead.
With 11 minutes remaining, the All Blacks finally crossed the line.
Rokocoko burst forward from midfield after collecting a pass from Doug Howlett before executing an audacious flick pass while looking the other way for Leonard to cross.
Evans then scored in the left-hand corner after a series of smooth passes stretched their tiring opponents and, with the very last action of the match, Carter broke free to cross.
He added his third conversion to give the scoreline a slightly flattering appearance for his team.
The victory takes the All Blacks top of the Tri-Nations table, level on Australia with nine points.
And with one more match before their World Cup campaign, the All Blacks will want to ensure they defeat the Wallabies at home next week to avenge their defeat on 30 June and travel to France with a real sense of momentum.
New Zealand coach Graham Henry put a positive spin on the result, despite it having taken so long for them to break down the visitors.
"We played most of the rugby and looked like scoring most of the tries and probably got a bit frustrated that we didn't score early," Henry said.
"That led to a lack of patience and discipline but I think it was a good step forward."
His South African counterpart Jake White said the game was changed irreversibly by the sin-binning of Wannenburg.
"You can't play a team like the All Blacks with 14 men with their athletic ability," he said.
"If they had played with 14 men who knows what might have happened -- you could tell that the crowd sensed that they weren't on their game."
New Zealand:
Muliaina, Howlett, Toeava, McAlister, Rokocoko; Weepu, Carter; Woodcock, Mealamu, Hayman, Jack, Robinson, Thorne, McCaw (capt), So'oialo.
Reserves: Hore, Tialata, Collins, Masoe, Leonard, Smith, Evans.
South Africa:
Pietersen, Paulse, Murray, Olivier, Pretorius; Pienaar, Hougaard; Van der Linde, B du Plessis, J du Plessis, Van den Berg, Muller (capt), Van Heerden, Wannenburg, Cronje.
Reserves: Botha, Andrews, Britz, Lobberts, Claassens, Grant, Chavhanga.
Field Goal