South Africa defeat New Zealand 43-28 in Baltimore to secure 3-1 series victory

Springboks secure series in Maryland

South Africa defeated New Zealand 43-28 at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore on Saturday evening, sealing a 3-1 victory in the four-match Rugby's Greatest Rivalry series. The world champions entered the fourth Test leading 2-1 from earlier fixtures staged on their home turf. The contest in Maryland took place before a near-capacity crowd of 68,173 spectators, the largest-ever crowd to watch a rugby match in the United States. The fixture concluded New Zealand's eight-match, six-week overseas tour, which was the country's first tour of that duration and format in 30 years.

First-half lead changes

South Africa fly-half Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu opened the scoring with an early penalty before New Zealand took the lead eight minutes into the contest. A rapid sequence of passes outflanked the South African blitz defence, allowing All Blacks captain and hooker Codie Taylor to score the opening try. South Africa answered through physical pressure in the close quarters, with their forward pack winning scrums and collisions. Lock Eben Etzebeth stopped returning New Zealand fly-half Richie Mo'unga in the tackle, while Jasper Wiese gained ground in loose play. Centre Damian de Allende burrowed over the line from short range, and scrum-half Morne van den Berg sold a dummy past Sam Darry to score a second try, establishing a 17-7 Springbok lead.

Feinberg-Mngomezulu missed a drop-goal attempt and pushed a long-range penalty wide to the right of the uprights. New Zealand capitalised before the interval by maintaining an offensive possession that lasted 32 continuous phases. Winger Will Jordan finished the sequence in the corner to cut the deficit. Damian McKenzie converted, sending the teams into half-time with South Africa ahead 17-14.

Second-half dominance and decisive tries

South Africa extended their advantage immediately after the restart through two close-range forward efforts. Malcolm Marx and flanker Pieter-Steph du Toit crossed the line within minutes to swing momentum back to the Springboks. New Zealand flanker Ethan Blackadder responded with a converted try to keep the All Blacks within reach. However, as New Zealand pressed for another score, South Africa winger Kurt-Lee Arendse gathered a loose ball deep in his own half and sprinted through a fragmented defence to score an individual try.

South Africa secured their sixth try when Cameron Hanekom capitalised on a New Zealand handling error near the All Blacks goal line. New Zealand back Beauden Barrett scored a late consolation try in the dying moments of the match. Damian McKenzie added his fourth conversion for New Zealand, while South Africa's kicking tally included two conversions and a penalty from Feinberg-Mngomezulu, two conversions from Manie Libbok, and one conversion from van den Berg.

Series conclusion and preparations

The result in Baltimore gave South Africa their third consecutive victory over New Zealand on successive weekends. The All Blacks had won the series opener in Johannesburg the previous month, briefly taking the top position in the world rugby rankings before South Africa recovered to take the remaining three fixtures under director of rugby Rassie Erasmus. Both national sides, having collectively won the past five Rugby World Cup tournaments, completed the series as part of their preparations for next year's Rugby World Cup.