Springboks run in six tries to beat All Blacks and seal series in Baltimore record crowd
South Africa beat New Zealand 43-28 in Baltimore to seal a 3-1 series win in front of the biggest rugby crowd America has ever seen.
The fourth and final Test was played at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore, Maryland, on 12 September. South Africa ran in six tries to New Zealand's four to close out the series, according to BBC Sport.
The crowd was 68,173. That is the largest-ever attendance for a rugby match in the United States, beating anything the sport has drawn before on American soil.
It was a strong finish from the reigning world champions. South Africa went into the night leading the series 2-1 and chasing a third straight Test win over their oldest rivals, after New Zealand had taken the opener in Johannesburg, per ESPN and Reuters.
Centre Damian de Allende led the scoring with two tries. Scrum-half Morne van den Berg — the player who feeds the ball into the scrum and ruck, that contest for the ball on the ground after a tackle — also crossed, along with flanker Pieter-Steph du Toit, winger Kurt-Lee Arendse and No 8 Cameron Hanekom.
New Zealand answered with four tries of their own. Hooker Codie Taylor scored, as did winger Will Jordan, flanker Ethan Blackadder and fly-half Beauden Barrett. Damian McKenzie added the extras, kicking all four conversions — the kick at goal worth two points after a try, which is worth five.
The fixture was billed by SA Rugby as part of “Castle Double Malt Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry”, and it lived up to the name with ten tries shared between the sides.
What makes this stand out is the setting as much as the score. Baltimore is not a traditional rugby city. Yet more than 68,000 people turned up for a Saturday night Test between two southern hemisphere heavyweights. For fans, this means something simple: the rivalry travels.
South Africa leave America with the series. New Zealand leave with the memory of striking first in Johannesburg but losing the next three. The gap between the teams was 15 points on the night, and two wins across the series.
