mens
international
After seven weeks, over 25,000 miles, 419 points and countless performances by Sister Bettina, rugby’s greatest rivalry culminated in Baltimore in front of the largest crowd ever to watch a rugby game in the United States.
Rassie Erasmus’ men added another historic trophy to their well-stocked cabinet after a breathless 80 minutes, racing to a 43-28 victory thanks to an electric second half.
The Springboks delivered an early warning shot by running out of their own 22 from kick-off, quickly earning a penalty after breaking a few meters down the left wing. Tupou Vaa’i’s high cross in the second minute saw Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu get to the tee to claim the game’s first three points from a comfortable angle.
And Eben Etzebeth delayed the theft All black people‘ the first points in the game, but only until the eighth minute, when they managed to overload the left edge for the second time and enter the goal. From there, Codie Taylor ran a smart line and collected the ball with enough clearance to reach the white paint.
New Zealand advanced two more times, but South Africa they denied them with steals and the dangerous feet of Feinberg-Mngomezulu added dynamism to the physical Springbok attack. With Bok set-pieces contributing their usual precision, the South Africans stormed forward and scored through centurion Damian de Allende.
New Zealand’s break was brought back in the 20th minute and South Africa punished the penalty by going to the corner, mounting a powerful header before Morne van den Berg sold the dummy and capitalized on a gap he made near the line.
The Springboks set up camp in the Kiwi half for much of the third quarter, winning every contested kick and maintaining possession with their precision. For New Zealand at least, the argument was steady.
The All Blacks got their chance when the South African kicker came out in full form and the Kiwis began a breathless attack of nearly 40 phases that slowly built up 40 meters before Will Jordan found the angle to reach the line. Seven points gave the Springboks a 17-14 lead at the break.
Kurt-Lee Arendse quickly ignited the second half with a pair of electric runs, breaking the line on both and only to be caught by a desperate New Zealand defence. A Springbok penalty followed, and New Zealand changed their entire front row.
However, the substitutes could not stop the Bok maul, who beat the stoppage time to rumble over the line to give Malcolm Marx a try; his final contribution to the series.
A scrum just a minute after play resumed was the launch pad for Feinberg-Mngomezula to make the next break of the game, into the Kiwi 22, and from there South Africa’s big men went to work. A few damaging collisions later, De Allende collapsed in his second half of the game.
The game opened up as the clock struck the 60th minute and New Zealand stole the South African line-up with Peter Lakai breaking through. Wallace Sititi threw an offload that fell into the arms of Jesse Kriel. From there, Ethan Hooker won the race for the chip in front, but the ball was recovered by Will Jordan after a breakdown. New Zealand broke into the corner and Ethan Blackadder made his first Test after some strong spells of play.
The All Blacks then set up camp in the Springbok half, but one chance was ended by a needless holding penalty in the ruck and another was ended by desperate Springbok defending.
The Kiwis threatened once again through McKenzie, but a pass to Moorby spilled and was picked up by Arendse, who took one great step and had too much pace in the open field to catch him on the way to the line. Five points extended the Springboks’ lead to 15 with seven minutes to play.
Another frantic period of play put the Springboks on top, with Cameron Hanekom winning a steal at the breakdown shortly after New Zealand settled a chip in front, bouncing the ball out of a ruck contest and reaching the line.
Beauden Barrett scored a consolation try in the 79th minute, taking the final score to 43-28. Baltimore’s sea of green celebrated as a legendary group of South Africans climbed another podium and Siya Kolisi lifted another piece of hard-earned silverware.
