By M&T Bank Stadium witnessed a master-class in rugby supremacy on Saturday as the Springboks charged to a comprehensive 43-28 victory over the All Blacks in the fourth and deciding Test, sealing Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry presented by Castle Double Malt.
Played out in front of a record-breaking, heavily green-tinged crowd of 68,173 fans in Baltimore, USA, this titanic clash fittingly marked Coach Rassie Erasmus’s landmark 100th Test at the helm of the green and gold. The triumph capped a ferocious four-match series in style, handing the Boks their eighth victory in their last ten outings against their fiercest adversaries.
South Africa’s intent was unmistakable from the opening whistle. Rather than opting for a safe territorial clearing kick after receiving the kick-off, the Boks elected to run the ball straight out of their own 22. That bravery paid immediate dividends when playmaker Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu slotted an early penalty goal after absorbing a high tackle during a surging carry.
The All Blacks, resolute and dangerous as ever, fired back through sustained pressure. Hooker Codie Taylor crashed over following a slick sequence of tapped penalties and a triple-cut-out pass from Cam Roigard.
New Zealand struck again just before the interval when wing Will Jordan pierced a heroic Bok defensive wall that had miraculously repelled 32 phases within 10 metres of its own tryline.
Despite a dominant Springbok siege that kept New Zealand penned deep in their half for long stretches, the opening stanza remained tight. Powerful centre Damian de Allende barged over from a goal-line ruck for his 13th Test try, and electric scrumhalf Morne van den Berg followed up with a sharp five-pointer to hand South Africa a 17-14 advantage at the break.
The second half belonged firmly to the men from the Republic, who outscored the All Blacks six tries to four across the contest. Fresh legs from the bench injected unstoppable momentum after the restart, setting up an inevitable five-metre lineout maul that culminated in hooker Malcolm Marx dotting down for his 29th Test try—and eighth against the old enemy.
Flank Pieter-Steph du Toit soon hammered home the advantage with the Boks’ fourth try. Though tireless All Blacks flank Ethan Blackadder kept his side mathematically alive by narrowing the deficit to eight points heading into the final quarter, South Africa’s defence and opportunistic counter-attacking proved unassailable.
Man of the match Morne van den Berg orchestrated proceedings brilliantly alongside a relentless forward pack. The game was decisively put beyond doubt when Cameron Hanekom jarred the ball loose from Will Jordan in a crunching tackle, allowing speedster Kurt-Lee Arendse to scoop up the loose pill and weave his way majestically 60 metres to the tryline. Hanekom added a well-deserved exclamation point moments later, pouncing on another handling error as New Zealand desperately tried to run from deep.
Though Beauden Barrett crossed in the final minute for a consolation score, it was far too little, too late. After dropping the opening encounter in Johannesburg four weeks prior, the resilient Springboks completed a remarkable series turnaround with successive triumphs in Cape Town, Soweto, and now, a historic coronation on North American soil.
