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Voice: third person (newsroom). Category: Rugby Championship (164).
Image concept: a Springbok maul driving forward under the Baltimore floodlights.
Alt text: Springboks and All Blacks in the fourth Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry Test in Baltimore.
To check: the minute of Kurt-Lee Arendse’s try (sources give both 61’ and 72’).
The old-school tour between South Africa and New Zealand ended in a way nobody predicted after eighty minutes of it: 3-1 to the Springboks, three straight wins after losing the opener.
Four Tests in little more than a month, two continents, a brand-new trophy on the line. Here is how it went.
Ellis Park: the one jolt
New Zealand won the first Test 33-16 in the world champions’ backyard. The All Blacks defended with their fingernails — surviving three consecutive five-metre scrums past the 50th minute — and turned every transition into an opportunity, with Fabian Holland’s try capping their best performance of the series.
Cape Town: the champions answer
A week later South Africa set the record straight: 33-26, with Cheslin Kolbe man of the match and 18 points off the tee, plus tries from Jesse Kriel, Damian de Allende and Siya Kolisi. Series level, all the pressure on the two remaining Tests.
Soweto: the most South African game of the lot
On 5 September, in front of 87,976 at FNB Stadium, came the 29-24 that shifted the series. Not the prettiest, but the truest to this team’s identity: four tries apiece, and a South Africa able to drag their opponents onto the ground they love — the collision, the fight, the breakdown.
New Zealand conceded twelve penalties, a penalty try and a yellow card to Ruben Love just before half-time, sin-binned by referee Nika Amashukeli for offside during a Springbok siege inside the 22. In between came two Ardie Savea tries — before he went off with a shoulder problem — and late scores from Will Jordan and Samisoni Taukei’aho. For Siya Kolisi it was a record 55th win as Springbok captain.
How did South Africa win the series?
By controlling the chaos. Whenever a match lost its structure, the Springboks reorganised faster and found a new source of pressure straight away, while the All Blacks were left chasing. It happened in Cape Town, in Soweto and in Baltimore.
Baltimore: the coronation
On 12 September, on neutral ground and in front of 68,173 — the largest crowd ever recorded for a rugby match in North America — the 43-28 sealed it. Six tries to four, scored by six different players: Damian de Allende, Morné van den Berg, Malcolm Marx, Pieter-Steph du Toit, Kurt-Lee Arendse and Cameron Hanekom. For New Zealand, without Savea and led by Codie Taylor, Taylor, Will Jordan, Ethan Blackadder and a last-gasp Beauden Barrett crossed.
The pick of them was Arendse’s: a loose ball gathered inside his own half and fifty-five metres of running. The best player on the night, though, was Morné van den Berg — a try, a conversion, a turnover and the man-of-the-match award.
What it leaves behind
A format that worked, four Tests instead of a tournament, and above all the confirmation that the world champions have no intention of stepping off the throne a year out from the 2027 World Cup. For New Zealand, the hard part starts now.
Read also
The full breakdown of the series is on the DanPat Rugby YouTube channel — subscribe so you don’t miss the next one.
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