Springboks klap All Blacks to clinch inaugural Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry crown
· The South African
The Springboks beat the All Blacks 43-28 in Baltimore on Saturday to secure an intense 3-1 series win in the inaugural campaign of Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry.
What a game. What a series. What a tour. The Springboks fell by the wayside in the opening Test, but they flexed their muscles and showed their pedigree as world champions in the following three showdowns to roar to a dominant series win against their greatest rivals.
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It’s worth mentioning that the All Blacks, despite the overall series result, contributed immensely to the pulsating, breathless and unpredictable nature of the past six weeks. Many, if not all, other Test teams would have crumbled under the sheer pressure and intensity of a tour like this; and yet, these two sets of players just kept at it and at each other for four consecutive matches.
However, it is coach Rassie Erasmus, captain Siya Kolisi and their ever-evolving charges that have now added Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry series crown to their laden trophy cabinet which includes back-to-back World Cup wins in 2019 and 2023 and a series win over the British and Irish Lions.
One stat that best illustrates the Springboks’ unrivalled stay at the top as the premier Test side in world rugby is that they’ve now won eight of the last 10 showdowns in this fixture against the All Blacks.
FIRST HALF RECAP: SPRINGBOKS AND ALL BLACKS GO TOE TO TOE
In a breathless first-half that just didn’t want to end, the Springboks and All Blacks went full throttle at each for almost a full hour before the interval eventually came. And when it did, a mere three points separated the sides with the score sitting at 17-14 in favour of the South Africans.
In a rather bizarre start to proceedings, the USA’s Star Spangled Banner was sung out in front of the pack stadium and the rendition was certainly… something. The anthems of South Africa and New Zealand came next, followed by the All Blacks’ Kapa O Pango Haka.
And then all hell broke loose. With everything going their way – think of the carries, think of the aerial contest, think of the set-pieces – the Springboks raced to a 17-7 lead with converted tries by Damian de Allende and Morne van den Berg before the All Blacks rallied to get back in the contest.
The ever-present Will Jordan, now New Zealand’s most prolific try-scorer to ever grace the game, rounded off a brutal, energy sapping 32-phase sequence of play that pitted persistent All Blacks attack against relentless Springbok defence against each other. Jordan, though, eventually came off his wing to run at and straight through Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu’s channel to score the crucial try that made it a three-point game at the midway mark.
SECOND HALF RECAP: WORLD CHAMPIONS SHOW THEIR MIGHT
The second stanza was a whole different ball game, with the All Blacks mostly reduced to bystanders as the Springboks wrestled full control of the match, the series and the No. 1 Test ranking.
New Zealand looked to launch an offensive and it almost paid off if not for Van den Berg beating everyone to the ruck and winning a pivotal turnover penalty just was Cameron Roigard was roaming free.
A devastating four-minute blitzkrieg saw the Springboks win a scrum penalty and land two telling blows as veterans Malcolm Marx and Pieter-Steph du Toit burrowed over to put Rassie Erasmus’ men 15 points to the good. But as has been the tale throughout this enthralling tour, the All Blacks just never went away and somehow found a way to bash down a closed to get back in the contest.
Facilitated by a strong Roigard carry, Ethan Blackadder – who scored a couple of tries in the mid-week games against the South African franchises – crashed over for his first Test try to break the shackles of the Springboks’ ascendancy.
But while that may have sparked fears of an All Black comeback, all it proved was to be a mere consolation as tries by Kurt-Lee Arendse and Cameron Hanekom shattered any hopes New Zealand might have harboured to get their hands on a piece of the trophy. Arendse’s try in particular got the 68,173 crowd off their seats as he pounced on a loose ball and danced through the heart of the Kiwi defence to seal both sides’ fate.
There was a little burst of magic from replacement Beauden Barrett, but his try at the death simply put some gloss on a fractured and disjointed All Blacks display that would warrant an inquest should their fans demand one.