Blast from the past: Boks edge All Blacks in Ellis Park try-fest

Today in SA sports history: August 19

1929 — Cyril Vincent takes five wickets and then Herbie Taylor scores 121 in the final fifth Test against England at The Oval, but SA can’t push home their first-innings advantage of 234. The hosts got to 264/1 at stumps to force a draw and finish the series unbeaten and on top 2-0.

1979 — Kork Ballington takes the double at the Czechoslovakian motorcycle Grand Prix in Brno to retain his 350cc world championship crown. His 250cc triumph was his third straight win in the class, but he’d secured that title at the British GP the previous week. Ballington retained both crowns he had won in 1978.

1995 — Underdog Philip Holiday stops Miguel Julio of Colombia in the 11th round to lift the vacant IBF lightweight crown at Sun City.

2000 — Scrumhalf Werner Swanepoel scores a late try, his second of the match, as the Springboks down New Zealand 46-40 in a 10-try Tri-Nations fest at Ellis Park. That was the most points the All Blacks had conceded in a match. Centre Robbie Fleck also scored two tries, with fullback Thinus Delport and wing Chester Williams also dotting down. 

2002 — Jacques Kallis makes 84, but it’s not enough as the Proteas lose to Sri Lanka by six wickets in an ODI in Tangier. The match was part of a triangular tournament also featuring Pakistan.

2009 — An 18-year-old Caster Semenya storms to victory at the world championships in Berlin to claim gold in 1 min 55.45 sec, sparking a long-standing dispute, initially over her gender and then her body’s ability to produce more testosterone than is considered normal for women.

2014 — Wayne Parnell and Ryan McLaren take three wickets each as the Proteas beat Zimbabwe by 61 runs in the second ODI in Bulawayo, to claim an unbeatable 2-0 lead in the three match series. SA had scored 257, with Faf du Plessis making 55.

2015 — Hashim Amla scores 124 to help the Proteas to 304/7 and a 20-run win over New Zealand in the first ODI in Pretoria.

2017 — The Springboks run in four tries to beat Argentina 37-15 in a Rugby Championship match at the Nelson Mandela Bay stadium in Port Elizabeth, courtesy of forwards Pieter-Steph du Toit and Siya Kolisi and wings Raymond Rhule and Courtnall Skosan.