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South Africa defeated New Zealand 43-28 at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore to complete a 3-1 victory in the fourth and final test of their series. The Springboks scored six tries to four in front of a capacity crowd of 71,000.
South Africa defeated New Zealand 43-28 in the fourth and final test in Baltimore on Saturday to complete a 3-1 series victory over the All Blacks.
The Springboks scored six tries to four at M&T Bank Stadium in front of a capacity crowd of 71,000. Some other reports listed the attendance as 68,173. The win sealed a third successive weekend triumph for South Africa and concluded New Zealand's eight-match, six-week tour of South Africa, the first of its kind in 30 years. The series began last month with New Zealand playing provincial opponents, before winning the first test in Johannesburg.
South Africa took the next three to keep up their top ranking. South Africa's tries came from Damian de Allende, Morne van den Berg, Malcolm Marx, Pieter-Steph du Toit, Kurt-Lee Arendse and Cameron Hanekom. New Zealand's tries were scored by recalled captain Codie Taylor, Will Jordan, Ethan Blackadder and Beauden Barrett. Springbok captain Siya Kolisi paid tribute to coach Rassie Erasmus after the victory.
He knows how to get us up, and when he speaks to us he reminds us where we come from, the country that we come from, Kolisi said. We do it for the players who are in the group who are not playing, the guys that are injured, the guys that could not make the tour, and also for the people of South Africa. Earlier, South Africa took the first points through a penalty from fly-half Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu.
New Zealand responded with a superbly worked try on eight minutes when Jordan and Damian McKenzie combined to open space down the left flank. McKenzie was held up just short of the line, but scrum-half Cam Roigard spun a bullet pass to Taylor who crashed over. McKenzie's conversion made it 7-3.
The Springboks then worked the ball through the phases and veteran lock Eben Etzebeth was halted near the goal-line only for centre de Allende to blast over for a converted try that put South Africa into a 10-7 lead. Play was interrupted for more than eight minutes shortly afterwards due to a failure in communication equipment between the match officials. When play resumed, South Africa were soon back on the attack.
An attacking line-out from a penalty led to a try from scrum-half Morne van den Berg that pushed the score to 17-7 after Feinberg-Mngomezulu's conversion. But New Zealand hit back with a scintillating try from Jordan, who hit the line at pace from close range to score after a superb 32-phase move. Jordan's try extended his try-scoring record to 55 and reduced the halftime score to 17-14.
South Africa made a flurry of changes in the pack early in the second half and immediately had New Zealand under pressure. A scrum penalty against New Zealand prop Ethan de Groot was kicked to the corner, and from the lineout hooker Marx drove over for a converted score. Two minutes later, Van den Berg's break led to Du Toit muscling over to help South Africa take a 29-14 lead, and the game looked all but settled.
Yet a try from New Zealand forward Blackadder helped the All Blacks close to within eight points with just under 20 minutes remaining, raising the possibility of a fightback. South Africa slammed the door on that possibility with a fabulous individual try from right wing Arendse nine minutes from time. Arendse jinked his way through the field before sprinting away for a game-winning effort, providing relief for the Boks and some breathing room on the scoreboard.
Replacement Hanekom's try straight after in the 75th minute confirmed South Africa's series success. New Zealand did get a consolation try through veteran Barrett, who came on as a late substitute for a cameo appearance. New Zealand skipper Taylor had few complaints with the defeat.
We talk a lot about moments throughout the week when we review our Test matches and South Africa just stacked a few more moments against us over the last couple of games, the veteran hooker said. Full credit to them, they are a great side and they have proven why they are world champions. Taylor said the All Blacks would take away positives as they build towards the 2027 Rugby World Cup. It is a good stepping stone, he said.
We are at an interesting place at the moment as a rugby nation. We have fallen short in this series but I can assure you and everyone back home that we are working hard. The clash at the home of the NFL's Baltimore Ravens drew a large crowd in a money-spinning exercise for both unions.
South Africa's total dominance at the breakdown, set piece and aerial battle proved decisive, with the Springboks' bomb squad bolstering the scrums early in the second half. The All Blacks were always chasing the South Africans in a fast-paced game.
IrishTimesSport
The42_ie:This story was compiled and edited by the HeadTopics newsroom and HT AI from the reports above.
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