Fifty years in the making: Springboks win the series 3-1 in Baltimore

Fifty years is a long time to wait. Not since 1976 had South Africa won a Test series against the All Blacks, and on a warm night in Baltimore, in front of a record North American rugby crowd of 68,173, the Springboks finally ended the drought. Their 43-28 win at the home of the NFL's Ravens completed a 3-1 series victory in the inaugural "Rugby's Greatest Rivalry", and it was built on the thing that has defined this South African side: ruthless finishing when the door opens a crack.

The All Blacks, missing injured captain Ardie Savea and led for the night by hooker Codie Taylor, had more of the ball and more of the field. They made more carries and more line breaks. They lost anyway, because South Africa turned half-chances into tries and New Zealand did not.

A frantic first half

Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu opened the scoring with an early penalty, but New Zealand hit back fast: Codie Taylor burrowed over in the 8th minute for a captain's try, the 24th of his career and a new record for an All Blacks hooker, past Dane Coles. It was the perfect start, and it did not last.

Damian de Allende bumped his way over on 14 minutes, and then came the night's first piece of magic. On his starting debut, Springbok halfback Morne van den Berg sold a lovely dummy close to the ruck and darted through on 22 minutes. Will Jordan struck back for New Zealand on 37 minutes, but South Africa took a 17-14 lead into the break, having scored two tries to the All Blacks' one from far less possession.

The world champions turned half-chances into tries all night. File photo. Photo: Like tears in rain / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

South Africa pull clear

The second half belonged to the world champions' set piece and their bench. Malcolm Marx rumbled over from a 20-metre driving maul on 49 minutes, his 8th Test try against New Zealand, which equalled Bryan Habana's Springbok record for tries in this fixture. Thomas du Toit added another on 53 minutes, and suddenly the lead was real.

New Zealand kept swinging. Ethan Blackadder, the All Blacks' best player on the night with a colossal defensive shift of 21 tackles, forced his way over on 63 minutes to keep the scoreboard alive. But the game's decisive moment came on 72 minutes, and it belonged to Kurt-Lee Arendse. The wing collected the ball with space and simply ran through the New Zealand defence, a sidestep leaving the cover grasping at air. "When Kurt-Lee scored, that was a turning point," Rassie Erasmus said afterwards. "He started burning guys."

Cobus Hanekom finished the scoring for South Africa on 78 minutes, and Beauden Barrett, winning his 144th cap, dotted down for New Zealand after the hooter to make the final margin 43-28.

The All Blacks had the ball and the field position, but not the finishing. File photo. Photo: David Molloy Photography / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0

The officiating

English referee Karl Dickson had a mostly quiet night by the standards of this series: no cards, no penalty tries. The oddest passage came when the TMO's communications equipment failed for around ten minutes; the captains agreed to play on with the television official able to intervene only for foul play, and the reviews that were needed were run, remarkably, by telephone. New Zealand had a penalty wiped by a Cam Roigard offside call, and they queried whether Josh Moorby had been impeded in the build-up to Arendse's clincher, but Dickson judged the contact simultaneous and the try stood.

Notably, the scrum, the great flashpoint of the Soweto Test a week earlier, was close to even in Baltimore. New Zealand won all six of their own put-ins and penalties were shared ten apiece. This was not a night decided at the set piece so much as in the finishing.

What they said

South Africa's physical edge decided a series 50 years in the making. File photo. Photo: Like tears in rain / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

Erasmus was gracious in a way that will not have surprised anyone who watched the series. "I wouldn't say we are a better team," he said. "At minute sixty I thought things were still in the balance. We appreciate that we won, but we definitely don't think the margin between the two teams is that big."

Codie Taylor, leading in Savea's absence, took the loss on the chin. "We had a couple of opportunities that we just let them off the hook on. Full credit to them, they have proven why they are world champions," he said. "We've learnt a lot on our tour, which was a stepping stone for us." South Africa captain Siya Kolisi, who lifted the new trophy, pointed to the man who has rebuilt the Springboks: "We've got coach Rassie, he knows how to get us up. When he speaks to us, he reminds us of where we come from."

Dave Rennie, who took the All Blacks job this year, reflected on the American experiment with a smile. "They obviously love their sports and got right behind rugby," he said of the Baltimore crowd. "I would have liked to see a few more black jerseys, but there's a lot of South Africans over here."

The bigger picture

The result held the world rankings steady, with South Africa staying number one at a national-record rating and New Zealand a close second. There is a US-shaped subplot too: this Test was tied to America's hosting of the 2031 World Cup, and the record crowd suggested the appetite is real.

The tour's toll was heavy. Ardie Savea underwent shoulder surgery in the days after the series and will miss the start of the home season, including the Bledisloe Cup opener at Eden Park. He was one of roughly ten All Blacks to come home carrying injuries. For South Africa, the wait is finally over: fifty years on, the series record against their oldest rivals reads in their favour again.