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All Blacks take command of Tri- Nations

  • Story Highlights
  • New Zealand beat South Africa 19-0 in Tri-Nations Test at Newlands
  • Dan Carter scores second half try for All Blacks and kicks two conversions
  • Percy Montgomery was gaining 100th cap for the Springboks
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(CNN) -- New Zealand took a stranglehold on the Tri-Nations championship with a superb 19-0 win over world champions South Africa at Newlands on Saturday.

All Blacks fly-half Dan Carter bursts through to score a second half try.

They top the standings with 14 points with one game to play against Australia next month.

The Wallabies are in second position with nine points from three matches and South Africa now prop up the table with five from four matches.

But they entertain Australia in Durban next weekend and then in Johannesburg on August 30, looking for a pair of wins to keep alive their slender hope of winning the championship.

South Africa, who were hoping to mark full-back Percy Montgomery's 100th Test cap with a win, dominated much of the first half, but could not get the points their efforts deserved.

Center Conrad Smith scored his team's opener in the seventh minute after diving on to a ball that had been kicked into the Boks' in-goal area by skipper Richie McCaw.

In the second period fly-half Dan Carter and replacement Keven Mealamu scored tries to seal the victory.

Carter kicked two conversions but missed three penalties that would have given the All Blacks an even more emphatic victory.

"I'm proud of the All Blacks," coach Graham Henry told the Associated Press.

"They played with skill and they showed courage out there."

New Zealand will now watch over the two Springboks -- Australia clashes before they wrap up this year's competition with a match against the Wallabies in Brisbane next month.

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