Boks’ cohesion smothers a patched-up All Blacks in Baltimore

9/12/2026 21:00

M & T Bank Stadium

Ref: Karl Dickson

South Africa

Rugby's Greatest Rivalry

43

28

Fourth test

New Zealand

de Allende (14', 48'), van den Berg (21'), du Toit (51'), K. Arendse (71'), C. Hanekom (75')

Tries

C. Taylor (7'), W. Jordan (36'), E. Blackadder (62'), B. Barrett (79')

S. Feinberg-Mngomezulu (15', 22'), van den Berg (52'), M. Libbok (72', 76')

Conversions

D. McKenzie (8', 37', 63', 79')

S. Feinberg-Mngomezulu (3')

Penalties

This told us continuity still beats disruption when the margins are tight. South Africa arrived with the Soweto core intact, knew exactly where their weight lived and leaned on it. New Zealand arrived without Ardie Savea, shuffled a back row and a midfield again, and tried to outrun a problem they couldn’t clear. On neutral turf, the Boks’ set-piece certainty, cleaner breakdown work and a bench that dovetailed with the plan wore down a side light on leaders and heavy carriers.

The scoreboard swelled late, but the turn came in the three minutes after half-time. At 17–14 the game was live. Then the Boks went to template: lineout, hard midfield carry, ruck accuracy, repeat. Damian de Allende smashed past the gain line for his second, and with New Zealand’s tight five reshuffled on 48 minutes, Pieter-Steph du Toit tore through a fractured fringe three minutes later. 29–14. That was the separation the All Blacks never truly reeled in, even as Ethan Blackadder dragged them back to 29–21 with another shift of tireless carrying and tackles.

This wasn’t a demolition at scrum or lineout on the numbers, but it was control. South Africa’s set piece gave them first touch in the right parts of the field and, crucially, launch shape. From those starts, the Boks owned contact. Jasper Wiese carried 17 times for 68 metres and 16 tackles; de Allende added 18 carries, 58 metres and two tries. That’s not just volume. That’s front-foot ball that turns Mo’unga’s exit into a chase, not a contest. Eben Etzebeth and du Toit piled up double-figure tackles and cleaned rucks; the All Blacks were made to play off slow ball too often to stress a settled green line.

New Zealand’s early score through Codie Taylor and the strike from Will Jordan before the break showed the threat remains when tempo sticks. Cam Roigard beat six defenders, Damian McKenzie was slippery on counter and perfect off the tee, and Blackadder emptied the tank for 21 tackles. But the faultlines we’ve seen all tour held: instability around the loose trio, midfield collisions they couldn’t consistently win, and set-piece moments they couldn’t turn into pressure. As Dave Rennie said a week earlier, “Our set-piece wasn’t good enough when it needed to be.” In Baltimore, at 48 and 51 minutes, it needed to be.

Selection mattered. With Savea and Luke Jacobson absent, New Zealand ran Tupou Vaa’i at six next to Blackadder and Peter Lakai, then had to juggle inside the first quarter. The Boks made only two starting tweaks and then rolled familiar faces: Malcolm Marx hit the fight on 49 minutes and the tempo of the maul and cleanout ticked up; Manie Libbok added metres and put bodies through gaps; Cameron Hanekom arrived to finish a late strike. That’s bench continuity: same roles, same pictures, fresh legs.

Credit the All Blacks’ defence for hanging in as long as it did. Jordie Barrett and Taylor both hit double digits and New Zealand finished with more tackles made. But look at where they were making them. Too many were on their heels after a Bok set piece or a dominant carry from de Allende or Wiese, and when scramble gets stretched, someone like Kurt-Lee Arendse punishes you. Arendse’s try on 71 minutes came off a fractured kick return and his 164 metres from seven carries were the game’s most brutal reminder that South Africa’s power game has pace on the edges.

For South Africa, this was clarity expressed. Morné van den Berg’s try and tempo were sharp, Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu took the first points and played flat, and Damian Willemse didn’t blink under the high ball. They will still hate the 32 missed tackles and a couple of soft fold-ins that kept New Zealand in touch for an hour. Discipline held at nine penalties; against a better-synced All Black pack it needs to stay there.

For New Zealand, the 43–28 line flatters neither side. South Africa were that far ahead in method, not by 15 in every collision. A late Beauden Barrett try trims perspective, and the All Blacks had enough line breaks to suggest the strike power hasn’t gone anywhere. What they lacked was the tight-five heft and breakdown certainty that Savea and a settled back row usually bring, plus a midfield that can stop de Allende on his terms. Richie Mo’unga wasn’t poor, but he played behind a retreating gain line too often to control exits or squeeze corners.

The takeaways are straightforward. South Africa leave the States with a repeatable template and the depth to keep running it: known starters, known finishers, heavy carries tied to clean ball and a back three that will skin you if you overfold. New Zealand leave with the attack still dangerous in transition but a to-do list that won’t surprise them: settle the loose trio, restore breakdown leadership, and turn a tidy set piece into a weapon at the moments that decide Tests. Get Savea back and pick combinations that get you over the gain line; otherwise, you keep tackling on your own goal-line while the Boks pick their shots.