Boks seal the deal in Baltimore

The Springboks reserved their greatest performance of the tour to claim Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry, presented by Castle Double Malt, with a convincing 43-28 victory (half-time 17-14) in the fourth and deciding Test at the M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore, USA, on Saturday.

The Boks dominated for much of the game and finally put daylight between themselves and a brave but ultimately outgunned All Blacks team with an emphatic 26-14 second half performance in front of a heavily green-tinged 68 173 crowd – a record for a rugby match in the USA.

It was a fitting result and performance in Bok coach Rassie Erasmus’s 100th Test guiding the playing affairs of the men in green and gold – an eighth win in the last 10 Tests against the All Blacks – and concluded an intense series with a statement performance.

The Boks outscored the All Blacks in tries (six to four) for the first time in the series with heroic performances across the field, with scrumhalf Morne van den Berg being one in a Man of the Match performance, which also included a conversion.

Damian de Allende, Malcolm Marx, Pieter-Steph du Toit, Kurt-Lee Arendse and Cameron Hanekom also crossed while Codie Taylor, Will Jordan, Ethan Blackadder and Beauden Barrett, in the final minute, scoring for New Zealand.

It was a very different outcome to the first Test four weeks ago, when New Zealand took a 33-16 win in Johannesburg. Since then, the Springboks have waxed ever stronger with victories in Cape Town (33-26) and Soweto (29-24) and this 43-28 epic performance.

The Springboks’ intent was obvious from the moment they received the kick-off, opting to run the ball from their own 22 – rather than choosing the clearing kick. They made good ground and a couple of phases later as they drove upfield took the first points from a penalty goal by Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu after he himself was victim of a high tackle as he surged into contact.

It was short-lived however. The All Blacks punched back with a try by hooker Codie Talyor from a period of sustained pressure. Quick hands, tapped penalties and slick offloads stretched the Boks defence left and right and back again until the dam burst with Taylor running on to a triple-cut-out pass from Cam Roigard to surge through a chink in the defensive wall.

They claimed a second from wing Will Jordan just before half-time in similar fashion. The Boks had held out for an astonishing 32 phases within 10 metres of their own goal-line in only the second period of All Black pressure in the match.

But they were finally breached when the peerless Jordan surged onto the ball to score his fourth try of the series, angling in from his right wing, to cross just to the left of the poles to finally breach the defiant green wall.

The score had broken what had been a Bok siege on All Black territory through much of the half; the problem was they were only able to take seven points from it. They kept the All Blacks penned in their own half for a long period but only had a try by Damian de Allende to show for it; the powerful centre picked up at a goal-line ruck and levered himself through a tackle to score his 13th test try.

Van den Berg’s five-pointer a few minutes later gave the Boks a 17-7 lead before that was cut to just three points with Jordan’s try moments before the break.

The Boks went straight back onto the attack after the restart, rolling on two new props, Lood de Jager and Andre Esterhuizen in place of the workhorses Ruan Nortje and Siya Kolisi.

The fresh legs had an impact as an All Black knock-on in their own 22 led to a scrum penalty; which led to a five-metre line-out which led to a maul; which led to a 29th Test try for Marx – and his eighth against New Zealand. It felt pretty inevitable.

Four minutes later a fourth try gave the Springboks a two-score lead but the idea that the game was put to bed was more proved to be an illusion. The try was claimed by Pieter-Steph du Toit, converted by Van den Berg in place of Feinberg-Mngomezulu, who limped on for 10 more minutes before being replaced.

The All Blacks had barely seen the Springbok half, never mind the 22 but it took only one entry to close the gap once again as the tireless Ethan Blackadder to cut the lead to eight points with 15 minutes remaining.

But it was not to be for the All Blacks. Arendse picked up a loose ball and weaved his way 60 metres to the tryline after Hanekom dislodged the ball from Jordan in a tackle.

Hanekom then pounced on a loose ball as the All Blacks tried to run from their own half before Barrett had the final word. Too little, too late. Game, set and match, Springboks.

Score

Springboks 43 (17) – Tries: Damian De Allende, Morne van den Berg, Malcolm Marx, Pieter-Steph du Toit, Kurt-Lee Arendse, Cameron Hanekom. Conversions: Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu (2), Morne van den Berg, Manie Libbok (2). Penalty: Feinberg-Mngomezulu.

New Zealand 28 (14) – Tries: Cody Taylor, Will Jordan, Ethan Blackadder, Beauden Barrett. Conversions: Damian McKenzie (4).