International
All Blacks run Sharks ragged in eight-try Durban rout
Published
2 months agoon
The All Blacks produced a vastly improved performance from their scratchy tour opener, running in eight unanswered tries to thrash the Sharks 54-0 in wet conditions at Hollywoodbets Kings Park in Durban. Leading 14-0 at half-time after mastering difficult conditions, the tourists cut loose with six second-half tries to record a comprehensive shutout victory.
Key moments
2 mins – Sharks apply early pressure. The hosts win a turnover from the kick-off and drive to within 5m of the All Blacks’ line. Lock Hendre Stassen is held up over the goal line. The All Blacks survive with stout maul defence.
4 mins – Damian McKenzie lands awkwardly on his ankle after taking a high ball. He receives strapping but plays on.
8 mins – Ruben Love lands a 50/22 kick to give the All Blacks their first attacking platform inside the Sharks’ 22.
19 mins – TRY ALL BLACKS: Fehi Fineanganofo dives over in the right corner after a short-side raid engineered by Damian McKenzie and Tupou Vaa’i. Josh Lord’s handling in the build-up was outstanding. Ruben Love converts from the touchline. (Sharks 0–7 All Blacks)
22 mins – TRY DISALLOWED: Damian McKenzie appears to score in the corner off a Quinn Tupaea chip kick, but the TMO rules a knock-on on the ground. Sharks scrum 5m out.
28 mins – TRY ALL BLACKS: Damian McKenzie slides over in the right corner after a pinpoint Jordie Barrett cross-field kick found Fineanganofo, who dished an inside pass to the flying fullback. Contentious grounding in the wet reviewed by the TMO — on-field try upheld due to inconclusive angles. Love converts from the touchline. (Sharks 0–14 All Blacks)
33 mins – McKenzie departs with an ankle injury. Emoni Narawa replaces him and moves to fullback. McKenzie had played on for nearly 30 minutes after the initial knock.
Half-time: Sharks 0–14 All Blacks. A scrappy first half in atrocious conditions, with puddles across the surface making handling treacherous. The All Blacks defended superbly early on, repelling multiple Sharks mauls, before their superior kicking game — particularly Barrett’s cross-field bombs and Love’s 50/22 — gradually established territorial control. The Sharks offered almost nothing in attack. Love faultless from the tee.
45 mins – TRY ALL BLACKS: Caleb Clarke strolls over out wide after Wallace Sititi made a powerful break and floated a long pass left. The All Blacks had tapped quickly from a penalty after Asafo Aumua was held up over the line. Love converts. (Sharks 0–21 All Blacks)
53 mins – TRY ALL BLACKS: Fehi Fineanganofo scores his second in the right corner. Barrett’s grubber was deflected and hacked ahead by Love before Clarke scooped up the loose ball and dished to Fineanganofo. Love converts from the touchline. (Sharks 0–28 All Blacks)
54 mins – Bradley Slater replaces Asafo Aumua. The hooker makes his All Blacks debut.
58 mins – Semisi Ta’eiloa comes on for Wallace Sititi. The Moana Pasifika loose forward makes his All Blacks debut.
60 mins – TRY ALL BLACKS: Jordie Barrett finishes a brilliant sustained team try. Luke Jacobson palmed off a defender and popped a pass over the top to Barrett, who streaked away to score out wide. The best try of the match. Love converts from the touchline. (Sharks 0–35 All Blacks)
61 mins – Ma’a Nonu comes on for the Sharks. The 44-year-old former All Blacks centurion makes his Sharks debut to the biggest cheer of the night.
62 mins – TRY ALL BLACKS: Kyle Preston goes end to end from the restart, weaving away from a defender on a 40m run to score under the posts. Love converts. (Sharks 0–42 All Blacks)
70 mins – TRY ALL BLACKS: Timoci Tavatavanawai dives over in the left corner after Sam Darry’s crisp short pass to the short side. Love’s conversion misses. (Sharks 0–47 All Blacks)
75 mins – TRY ALL BLACKS: Sam Darry crashes through Ma’a Nonu to score after a quick tap from Cortez Ratima. Love converts. (Sharks 0–54 All Blacks)
Full-time: Sharks 0–54 All Blacks
The final scoreline told the story of a game that was anything but comfortable in its opening 40 minutes. In conditions so waterlogged that puddles formed across the surface and the ball stopped dead on impact, the All Blacks had to grind through a frustrating first half before running riot in the second to record the biggest winning margin of the Greatest Rivalry Tour so far.
The Sharks came out swinging from the kick-off, winning a turnover and driving deep into the All Blacks’ 22 within the opening two minutes. Lock Hendre Stassen was held up over the line by desperate defence, and for the next quarter of an hour the hosts kept the tourists pinned in their own territory through a combination of tactical kicks from fly-half Vusi Moyo and forward drives that tested the All Blacks’ resolve. Crucially, the tourists’ maul defence held firm where it had wobbled against the Stormers, with captain Luke Jacobson prominent in making tackles and disrupting the hosts’ lineout drives.
Fullback Damian McKenzie suffered an early scare when he landed awkwardly on his ankle after taking a high ball in the fourth minute. He received strapping and played on bravely for another half hour before being replaced by Emoni Narawa in the 33rd minute. Rennie later confirmed the injury was not serious. “He just twisted his ankle. It’s not too bad but we just felt he was less than 100 per cent. He will be fine,” the head coach said.
The breakthrough came in the 19th minute through an incisive short-side raid. Kyle Preston, whose earlier quick-tap penalty had taken the All Blacks deep into Sharks territory, moved the ball blind for Josh Lord to produce a deft offload to Fehi Fineanganofo, who slid over in the right corner for his first try in the black jersey. Love converted from the touchline, a shot that clipped the upright before bouncing over — a sign of things to come from an excellent night with the boot.
McKenzie appeared to double the lead minutes later when he latched onto a Quinn Tupaea chip and slid over, only for the TMO to make a belated call that the fullback had knocked the ball on during the grounding. He was not to be denied for long. In the 28th minute, Jordie Barrett launched one of several pinpoint cross-field kicks to the right corner, where Fineanganofo took the ball, beat his marker and fed a flying McKenzie inside. The try survived TMO scrutiny despite the splash of water obscuring the grounding — the on-field decision stood due to inconclusive angles. Love drilled another touchline conversion and the All Blacks led 14-0 at the break.
“We weren’t clinical enough in that first half and couldn’t build enough continuity and pressure to hurt them,” Rennie reflected. “The second half was good. We put pressure on by being accurate and going multi-phase.”
The dam broke within five minutes of the restart. Hooker Asafo Aumua powered towards the line from close range but was held up by desperate last-ditch defence, however the All Blacks had a penalty advantage and tapped quickly. Wallace Sititi made a surging break before floating a long pass against the grain to Caleb Clarke, who strolled over out wide. Love converted and the Sharks were staring into an abyss.
Fineanganofo grabbed his second in the 53rd minute after a passage of scrappy play was tidied up by the All Blacks’ superior handling. Barrett’s grubber was deflected and knocked backwards before Love hacked ahead, Clarke scooped up the loose ball and dished the assist to the winger, who finished in the right corner. Love’s touchline conversion made it 28-0 and the floodgates were open.
The best try of the match arrived in the 60th minute and it was worth the wait. From a lineout just inside their own half, the All Blacks defied the treacherous surface with a brilliant stretch of sustained attack that swung the ball to both edges through the hands of Love, Barrett, Tupaea and Tupou Vaa’i. Jacobson finished the sequence with a powerful fend before popping a pass over the top to Barrett, who streaked away to score in the corner. It was a try that would have graced any conditions.
The 61st minute brought the biggest cheer of the night as Ma’a Nonu entered the contest. The 44-year-old former All Blacks centurion, who had performed a stirring solo haka in response to the tourists’ pre-match challenge, charged into Love with a trademark hit that served as a reminder of his enduring physicality. But there was little the veteran could do against a team operating in a different gear. “The All Blacks opened up in the last 30 minutes and I was chasing my tail,” Nonu told Sky Sport. “Credit to them, they’re improving, and all the best to the brothers for the next game.”
Nonu had sought permission from former team-mates Tana Umaga and Tamati Ellison before performing the haka, having initially declined when the Sharks asked the night before. “I didn’t want it to be about me,” Nonu said. “I wanted it to be about the All Blacks and the Sharks. Out of respect for our team and on behalf of myself and my family, I thought it was the right thing to do, to answer the boys and the All Blacks.”
From the restart following Barrett’s try, the All Blacks went end to end as Tupaea beat tackles before offloading to Narawa, who found Clarke, who fed Preston. The halfback still had 40 metres to cover and did so with impressive pace, weaving away from a defender to score under the posts. Love converted and it was 42-0 with 18 minutes still to play.
Replacement midfielder Timoci Tavatavanawai, who had produced a trademark breakdown steal moments after coming on, was rewarded with a try in the 70th minute after a period of sustained forward pressure. Darry delivered a crisp short pass to the short side and Tavatavanawai dived over in the left corner. The eighth and final try came five minutes from time when Darry crashed through Nonu to score after Cortez Ratima took a quick tap from a scrum penalty.
Love finished with seven conversions from eight attempts in testing conditions, several from the touchline, cementing his grip on the first five-eighth jersey. Barrett was named man of the match for his tactical kicking and try, while Preston’s all-action display — capped by his try and a series of sniping breaks — will have given the selectors serious food for thought ahead of the Test series.
Jacobson, captaining the All Blacks for the first time, was typically understated afterwards. “She’s pretty wet out there, as you can see,” the flanker said. “We broke them down pretty well in the first half and got the fruits for that in the second half. Against the Stormers we weren’t where we wanted to be with our set piece around our maul and our scrum, we took awesome steps forward there this week.”
Barrett, collecting his man-of-the-match award, praised the team’s handling in the conditions. “It was a pretty greasy surface tonight. We’re pretty proud to keep backing our skills in these conditions and put on a few points against a good Sharks side. It was tight at half-time. We were able to gain an ascendancy after.”
Debutants Bradley Slater and Semisi Ta’eiloa both got game time from the bench, with Ta’eiloa making some powerful carries in the closing stages. Slater’s first touch in open play was a forgettable knock-on but his lineout throwing was solid, and both men now have their first caps under their belts on what has been a tour of opportunity for the uncapped.
Rennie was largely pleased but warned his side cannot afford to start slowly against the Springboks. “We can’t afford to start games like we have two games here, so that will be a focus for us,” he said. “We’ve now had five games this season and I think we’ve got a lot better understanding of the game we’re trying to play. There’s really good competition for spots, which I think is really important heading into the Test in a couple of weeks.”
On the question of who will replace the tour-ending Billy Proctor, and whether Richie Mo’unga might receive the call, Rennie remained noncommittal. “We decided we wouldn’t make a decision on Billy’s replacement till after tonight’s game, mainly because we’ll see what came through here, and if we got a couple of other injuries that might decide which direction we go in,” he said.
The All Blacks now travel to Pretoria to face the Bulls at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday evening, the final fixture before the first Test against the Springboks at Ellis Park on 23 August. Will Jordan, Codie Taylor and Ardie Savea are among those yet to feature on tour, and Rennie has indicated that at least some of them will play against the Bulls. On the evidence of Durban, the tourists are building nicely — but the Springboks will represent an altogether different proposition.
Teams
Sharks: 15 Zekhethelo Siyaya, 14 Donovan Don, 13 Jurenzo Julius, 12 Murray Koster, 11 Litelihle Bester, 10 Vusi Moyo, 9 Bradley Davids, 8 Nick Hatton (c), 7 Manu Tshituka, 6 Phepsi Buthelezi, 5 Deon Slabbert, 4 Hendre Stassen, 3 Vincent Koch, 2 Eduan Swart, 1 Nemo Roelofse.
Replacements: 16 Liam van Wyk, 17 Rambo Kubekha, 18 Simphiwe Ngobese, 19 Corne Rahl, 20 Matt Romao, 21 Ivan van Zyl, 22 Luan Giliomee, 23 Ma’a Nonu.
All Blacks: 15 Damian McKenzie, 14 Fehi Fineanganofo, 13 Quinn Tupaea, 12 Jordie Barrett, 11 Caleb Clarke, 10 Ruben Love, 9 Kyle Preston, 8 Wallace Sititi, 7 Luke Jacobson (c), 6 Tupou Vaa’i, 5 Sam Darry, 4 Josh Lord, 3 Fletcher Newell, 2 Asafo Aumua, 1 Ethan de Groot.
Replacements: 16 Bradley Slater, 17 Ollie Norris, 18 Pasilio Tosi, 19 Ethan Blackadder, 20 Semisi Ta’eiloa, 21 Cortez Ratima, 22 Timoci Tavatavanawai, 23 Emoni Narawa.
Match details
Sharks 0
All Blacks 54 (Tries: Fineanganofo 2, McKenzie, Clarke, Barrett, Preston, Tavatavanawai, Darry; Conversions: Love 7/8)
Half-time: 0–14
Venue: Hollywoodbets Kings Park, Durban
Referee: Matthew Carley (England)
Attendance: 14,759
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International
Springboks seal RGR series with Baltimore blitz over All Blacks
Published
1 month agoon
13th September 2026
The Springboks clinched Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry series 3-1, overwhelming the All Blacks 43-28 at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore in the first meeting between the two rivals on American soil. Six tries to four in front of a record US rugby crowd sealed the most emphatic and expansive victory of the series, confirming the world champions’ supremacy at the end of a tour that captivated the sport.
Key moments
3 mins – PENALTY SOUTH AFRICA: Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu kicks an early penalty after the All Blacks are penalised at the breakdown. (South Africa 3–0 All Blacks)
9 mins – TRY ALL BLACKS: Codie Taylor scores after Cam Roigard throws a long pass across the goal-line from a ruck. Taylor’s 24th Test try — an All Blacks hooker record, passing Dane Coles. McKenzie converts. (South Africa 3–7 All Blacks)
14 mins – TRY SOUTH AFRICA: Damian de Allende powers over from close range after a 10-phase surge into the All Blacks’ 22. Feinberg-Mngomezulu converts. (South Africa 10–7 All Blacks)
~18 mins – TMO COMMUNICATION BREAKDOWN. Play is suspended for approximately 10 minutes after the referee loses communication with the Television Match Official. Both captains agree to continue without TMO involvement unless foul play occurs.
22 mins – TRY SOUTH AFRICA: Morne van den Berg sells a dummy and darts over from close range. The scrumhalf converts his own try. (South Africa 17–7 All Blacks)
~38 mins – TRY ALL BLACKS: Will Jordan enters the line from the right wing and races in beside the posts, capping a remarkable 32-phase sequence that sapped the Springbok defence. The move began from a front-of-the-lineout play after South Africa conceded a scrum penalty. McKenzie converts. (South Africa 17–14 All Blacks)
Half-time: South Africa 17–14 All Blacks. The Springboks led through de Allende and van den Berg after a dominant first quarter, but the All Blacks fought back through Taylor’s record try and Jordan’s score from a magnificent 32-phase build-up. A 10-minute TMO breakdown embarrassed the showcase event. The Springboks’ scrum and breakdown superiority was again evident.
48 mins – TRY SOUTH AFRICA: Malcolm Marx scores from a rolling lineout maul after the Springboks win a scrum penalty and kick to the corner. Manie Libbok converts. (South Africa 24–14 All Blacks)
51 mins – TRY SOUTH AFRICA: Pieter-Steph du Toit barges over after Feinberg-Mngomezulu breaks into the All Blacks’ 22 from a scrum and the Springbok forwards batter through. Libbok converts. (South Africa 31–14 All Blacks)
~55 mins – Roigard tackled without the ball. The halfback is taken out after kicking through to the Springbok line. TMO reviews but finds Roigard was offside at the preceding ruck. Penalty reversed. Frustration mounts for the All Blacks.
~63 mins – TRY ALL BLACKS: Ethan Blackadder scores his first Test try after a lineout drive and Roigard’s charge around a ruck creates the opening. McKenzie converts. (South Africa 31–21 All Blacks)
71 mins – TRY SOUTH AFRICA: Kurt-Lee Arendse swoops on a loose ball after a Moorby tackle incident and races more than 50 metres to score. A devastating counterattack. Feinberg-Mngomezulu converts. (South Africa 38–21 All Blacks)
75 mins – TRY SOUTH AFRICA: Cameron Hanekom powers over after taking the ball from Jordan, who had scrambled back in cover. The replacement flanker seals the series. Unconverted. (South Africa 43–21 All Blacks)
80 mins – TRY ALL BLACKS: Beauden Barrett crosses for a consolation score in the final minute. McKenzie converts. (South Africa 43–28 All Blacks)
Full-time: South Africa 43–28 All Blacks. Series: South Africa 3–1.
This wasn’t the suffocating, grinding Springbok rugby that had characterised the second and third Tests. This was champagne stuff — expansive, electric and utterly ruthless. South Africa mixed power with panache, combining their traditional forward dominance with a willingness to give the ball air that had the All Blacks’ defence scrambling and the Baltimore crowd roaring its approval. When Siya Kolisi hoisted the Greatest Rivalry trophy aloft after it was presented by Dan Carter and Schalk Burger, few could argue it had gone to the wrong side.
The All Blacks, true to their free-flowing blueprint, moved the ball with typical slickness and crossed four times themselves, but on this intoxicating Baltimore evening they had no answer to a rampant Springbok side firing on all cylinders. The Springboks made 11 line breaks and played with the freedom of a team given licence to cut loose by a coach who knew his side could not lose the series. Rassie Erasmus had done it again.
“I thought it was epic,” Erasmus said. “The whole series so far has been epic, and they can draw it in Baltimore. But we wanted to finish it properly.”
The All Blacks’ penalty problems surfaced immediately. Feinberg-Mngomezulu kicked a third-minute penalty, and from there the Springboks established the tempo that would define the match. But the tourists struck back in the ninth minute when Cam Roigard, sharp and direct throughout his 80 minutes, threw a long pass across the goal-line from a ruck for captain Codie Taylor to score. In doing so, Taylor claimed his 24th Test try — the most by any All Blacks hooker, overtaking Dane Coles’s long-standing record. McKenzie converted.
The lead was short-lived. The Springboks launched a 10-phase surge into the All Blacks’ 22 and, from a ruck close to the line, Damian de Allende powered over for his fourth try of the series. Feinberg-Mngomezulu converted for 10-7. Then came an extraordinary interruption: the referee lost communication with the Television Match Official, suspending play for approximately ten minutes. Both captains agreed to continue without TMO involvement unless foul play occurred — an embarrassing episode for a match being showcased to a new American audience.
When play resumed, the Springboks pressed their advantage. Josh Moorby was controversially penalised for an offence while attempting to place the ball in a tackle, gifting the hosts field position. From the resulting lineout, man-of-the-match Morne van den Berg cut back against the grain and darted over to score. The scrumhalf then converted his own try — the second time in the series he had done so — for 17-7.
The All Blacks’ response was their finest passage of play in the match. After South Africa conceded a scrum penalty, Taylor found his jumper at the front of the lineout and set in motion a 32-phase movement that sapped the Springboks’ defence. Surge after surge was absorbed before the ball was moved to the backs, and Jordan — entering the line from his right wing — raced in beside the posts. McKenzie converted, and the tourists went to the break trailing by just three at 17-14.
Whatever hope that stirred evaporated within six minutes of the restart. The Springboks scored two tries in three minutes to blow the match apart. First, a scrum penalty gave them the chance to kick to the corner, and from the lineout their maul — that terrifying, irresistible weapon — drove the All Blacks backwards before Marx peeled off to score. Libbok converted for 24-14. From the restart, the Springboks won a scrum and Feinberg-Mngomezulu broke into the All Blacks’ 22 before du Toit drove over from close range. Libbok converted again and at 31-14, the series was over as a contest.
“We were confident that if we got a few things right tonight we’d have a good chance of winning,” Rennie said. “We fell short. It’s disappointing from that perspective.”
The All Blacks’ frustrations multiplied. Roigard kicked through to the Springbok line only to be taken out without the ball — a penalty seemed certain, but the TMO discovered Roigard was offside at the preceding ruck and the decision was reversed. Moorby was then denied a favourable ruling after taking a tackle that wasn’t ruled early. Richie Mo’unga, starting his first Test since the 2023 World Cup final, kicked for the corner and from the lineout Blackadder — busy, abrasive and tireless throughout — scored his first Test try. McKenzie converted for 31-21 and briefly the All Blacks sensed a comeback.
Arendse killed it stone dead. In the 71st minute, the ball bounced loose after the controversial Moorby tackle incident and the Springbok flyer swooped on it, accelerating from inside his own half on a devastating 50-metre run to score under the posts. It was the try of the match and the moment that sealed the series in emphatic fashion. Feinberg-Mngomezulu converted. Replacement flanker Cameron Hanekom added a sixth four minutes later, powering over after taking the ball from Jordan, who had scrambled back in cover.
Beauden Barrett, the 144-cap veteran who had been introduced from the bench, crossed for a consolation in the final minute that McKenzie converted, but the 43-28 scoreline — the largest winning margin of the series — told the story of South African dominance. The try count across four Tests finished 20-18 in the All Blacks’ favour, yet the Springboks won the series 3-1 — a testament to their ability to win the decisive moments through set-piece power, breakdown dominance and the relentless physicality of their bench rotation.
Rennie was honest in defeat. “Yeah, look, the boys put in a massive shift again,” he said. “You look at all the numbers, and everything’s very even, but they were electric, and when they got their opportunities, and we were trying to chase the game late, we put ourselves under a bit more pressure.” On the breakdown discipline that conceded crucial penalties, he was blunt: “Yeah, it’s not good enough. It just does not affect the game either. But it’s dumb.”
The head coach maintained perspective on a tour that had tested his squad to its limits. “We’ve had a captured audience of what turned out to be 49 players,” Rennie said. “I thought the set piece was excellent tonight — scrum and lineout were a real positive. When we get our continuity going, we’re going to score tries. We’re tracking in the right direction, but we’ve got to close the gap and we know that.”
Mo’unga, playing his first Test in three years, labelled the 2026 Springboks a “complete team” and acknowledged the gulf the All Blacks need to bridge before the likely World Cup quarter-final meeting next year. Jordie Barrett was again outstanding at inside centre — arguably the All Blacks’ most consistently excellent player across the entire tour — while Blackadder, Jordan and Peter Lakai all enhanced their reputations in a losing cause.
Taylor, captaining for the final time on tour, hoped the Baltimore crowd took something from the occasion. “I hope American fans left understanding how exciting rugby can be,” the hooker said. Rennie echoed the sentiment: “They obviously love their sports, and they got right behind rugby. I would have liked to see a few more black jerseys, but obviously there’s a lot of South Africans over here.”
The Greatest Rivalry Tour is over. Across eight matches and seven weeks, the All Blacks used 49 players, scored 49 tries, won five of eight fixtures and lost the Test series 3-1 after winning the opener. They return to New Zealand battered, bruised and wiser — with a Bledisloe Cup and a European tour still ahead before the World Cup. The Springboks, meanwhile, have now won everything there is to win. They head to Australia in 2027 as the team to beat, their greatness no longer debatable. As Erasmus said in Cape Town: they are the benchmark. And as Baltimore showed, the gap between benchmark and challenger remains stubbornly difficult to close.
Teams
South Africa: 15 Damian Willemse, 14 Kurt-Lee Arendse, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Ethan Hooker, 10 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, 9 Morne van den Berg, 8 Jasper Wiese, 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 6 Siya Kolisi (c), 5 Ruan Nortje, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Thomas du Toit, 2 Malcolm Marx, 1 Ox Nche.
Replacements: 16 Deon Fourie, 17 Gerhard Steenekamp, 18 Wilco Louw, 19 Cobus Wiese, 20 Cameron Hanekom, 21 Cobus Reinach, 22 Andre Esterhuizen, 23 Manie Libbok.
All Blacks: 15 Damian McKenzie, 14 Will Jordan, 13 Anton Lienert-Brown, 12 Jordie Barrett, 11 Josh Moorby, 10 Richie Mo’unga, 9 Cam Roigard, 8 Peter Lakai, 7 Ethan Blackadder, 6 Tupou Vaa’i, 5 Sam Darry, 4 Patrick Tuipulotu, 3 Fletcher Newell, 2 Codie Taylor (c), 1 Ethan de Groot.
Replacements: 16 Asafo Aumua, 17 Xavier Numia, 18 Tyrel Lomax, 19 Josh Lord, 20 Wallace Sititi, 21 Kyle Preston, 22 Rieko Ioane, 23 Beauden Barrett.
Match details
South Africa 43 (Tries: de Allende, van den Berg, Marx, du Toit, Arendse, Hanekom; Conversions: Feinberg-Mngomezulu 2/3, van den Berg 1/1, Libbok 2/2; Penalties: Feinberg-Mngomezulu 1/1)
All Blacks 28 (Tries: Taylor, Jordan, Blackadder, Barrett; Conversions: McKenzie 4/4)
Half-time: 17–14 (South Africa)
Venue: M&T Bank Stadium, Baltimore
Attendance: Record US rugby crowd
Referee: Karl Dickson (England)
Man of the match: Morne van den Berg (South Africa)
Series result: South Africa 3–1
Greatest Rivalry series result
First Test, Ellis Park, Johannesburg: South Africa 16–33 All Blacks
Second Test, DHL Stadium, Cape Town: South Africa 33–26 All Blacks
Third Test, FNB Stadium, Johannesburg: South Africa 29–24 All Blacks
Fourth Test, M&T Bank Stadium, Baltimore: South Africa 43–28 All Blacks
Series: South Africa 3–1
International
Mo’unga gets the call in revamped All Blacks for Baltimore finale
Published
1 month agoon
11th September 2026
Dave Rennie has made sweeping changes for the fourth and final Test against the Springboks at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore on Saturday, with Richie Mo’unga handed his first Test start since the 2023 Rugby World Cup final and Ethan Blackadder earning his first in more than two years. Codie Taylor captains a revamped side that must win to prevent the Springboks claiming the Greatest Rivalry series outright.
Key squad news:
- Richie Mo’unga earns his first Test start since the 2023 World Cup final; Ruben Love dropped from the 23
- Codie Taylor captains the All Blacks in the absence of the injured Ardie Savea
- Ethan Blackadder makes his first Test start in more than two years at openside flanker
- Ethan de Groot and Josh Lord return after clearing concussion protocols from the first Test
- Five changes to the starting XV; Newell, Tuipulotu, Lienert-Brown also start
- Fabian Holland unavailable due to illness
- All Blacks must win to draw the series 2-2
The changes are driven by necessity and opportunity. Ardie Savea (dislocated shoulder), Luke Jacobson (elbow tendon) and Quinn Tupaea (MCL) were all injured in the third Test defeat in Soweto, while Fabian Holland has been ruled out through illness. Their absence, combined with the return of Ethan de Groot and Josh Lord — who have cleared World Rugby’s concussion protocols after the sickening first Test collision — has prompted a significant reshuffle.
Mo’unga’s selection at first five-eighth is the headline talking point. The 56-cap playmaker replaces Ruben Love, who drops out of the matchday 23 entirely after starting all three Tests in the series. It is Mo’unga’s first Test start since the one-point World Cup final defeat to these same Springboks in Paris three years ago, completing a remarkable journey from three seasons in Japanese club rugby back to the international arena.
“Richie has been patient and professional since arriving on tour,” Rennie said. “He’s earned this opportunity. His vision, his decision-making and his ability to run a game at the highest level are exactly what we need in a match of this magnitude.”
Blackadder’s inclusion at openside is a reward for his extraordinary tour. The Crusaders flanker’s two-try, 16-carry display against the Lions was the standout individual performance of the franchise matches, and he has been unlucky not to feature in a Test matchday squad until now. He forms a new-look loose forward trio with Tupou Vaa’i, who shifts from lock to blindside, and Peter Lakai at number eight.
The front row sees de Groot return at loosehead alongside Taylor and Fletcher Newell, who replaces Tyrel Lomax at tighthead for his first Test start of the series. Lomax provides impact from the bench. Patrick Tuipulotu partners Sam Darry — the only forward to start in the same position as the third Test — in a second-row combination that offers a different profile from the Holland-Vaa’i and Holland-Darry pairings used earlier in the series. Lord’s return from concussion protocols means he can provide lock cover from the reserves.
In the backs, Anton Lienert-Brown replaces the injured Tupaea at outside centre alongside Jordie Barrett, while Josh Moorby comes onto the left wing. Cam Roigard, Will Jordan and Damian McKenzie are retained, with Rieko Ioane and Leroy Carter providing outside back cover on the bench.
Taylor, who captained the All Blacks for the first time against the Bulls earlier on tour, takes the armband for the biggest match of his 111-cap career. “It’s a huge honour to captain the All Blacks in a Test match of this magnitude,” Taylor said. “We’re desperate to get a result. The boys are hurting after last week and we know what’s at stake.”
Barrett dismissed any suggestion the All Blacks might be mentally or physically spent after seven weeks on tour. “We’ve still got a lot to play for,” Barrett said. “We came here to win a series and while that’s no longer possible, sharing it is the next best thing. We owe it to ourselves and everyone back home to finish this tour the right way.”
The match marks the first time the All Blacks and Springboks have met on American soil. M&T Bank Stadium, the 70,257-capacity home of the NFL’s Baltimore Ravens, will host the sixth All Blacks Test played in the United States, following matches in Chicago, Washington DC and San Diego. Baltimore is a candidate city for the 2031 Rugby World Cup.
The series stands at 2-1 in the Springboks’ favour. A New Zealand victory would see each nation retain one half of the Greatest Rivalry trophy in a drawn series. Defeat would confirm the first series loss for an All Blacks touring side in South Africa since 1976 and hand the Springboks both halves of the silverware.
“This is why you play rugby,” Rennie said. “A deciding Test match against the best team in the world in front of 70,000 people. We know the Boks will be desperate to finish it here, but so are we. We’ve shown throughout this tour that we can beat anyone when we’re at our best. Now we need to deliver the performance of the tour.”
All Blacks team for the fourth Test
M&T Bank Stadium, Baltimore. Saturday 12 September, kick-off 5pm local time (Sunday 13 September, 9am NZT).
1. Ethan de Groot (44 caps), 2. Codie Taylor (c) (111), 3. Fletcher Newell (39), 4. Patrick Tuipulotu (58), 5. Sam Darry (11), 6. Tupou Vaa’i (50), 7. Ethan Blackadder (15), 8. Peter Lakai (13), 9. Cam Roigard (23), 10. Richie Mo’unga (56), 11. Josh Moorby (4), 12. Jordie Barrett (84), 13. Anton Lienert-Brown (92), 14. Will Jordan (60), 15. Damian McKenzie (80).
Reserves: 16. Asafo Aumua (25), 17. Xavier Numia (4), 18. Tyrel Lomax (54), 19. Josh Lord (16), 20. Wallace Sititi (22), 21. Kyle Preston (4), 22. Rieko Ioane (89), 23. Leroy Carter (10).
International
Springboks make two changes for Baltimore Test against All Blacks
Published
2 months agoon
9th September 2026
Rassie Erasmus has made just two changes to the Springbok starting XV for the Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry series decider against the All Blacks at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore on Saturday, sending the clearest possible signal that he intends to go for the kill and clinch a 3-1 series victory on American soil.
Key team news:
- Damian Willemse returns at fullback in place of the injured Cheslin Kolbe, who broke his jaw in the third Test and has remained in South Africa
- Morne van den Berg earns his first start of the series at scrum-half, with Cobus Reinach dropping to the bench
- The forward pack is unchanged for the third consecutive Test
- A Springbok victory would seal a 3-1 series win; an All Blacks victory would draw the series
- Eben Etzebeth extends his record as the most capped Springbok to 146 Tests
- The loose trio of Kolisi, du Toit and Wiese will start together for a record 19th time
- It is the first Springbok Test in history to be played in Baltimore
- Kick-off is at 23:00 SA time (17:00 EDT)
The decision to retain the same matchday squad with only injury-enforced and form-based adjustments is a statement of intent from Erasmus. Having won the second and third Tests to take a 2-1 lead, the Springbok coach is backing the combinations that turned the series around rather than rotating for the finale.
Only two changes to the #Springboks team for Saturday's RGR decider in Baltimore – more here: https://t.co/ULt9zgTIeY #ForeverGreenForeverGold #RugbysGreatestRivalry pic.twitter.com/6lai1VcHdq
— Springboks (@Springboks) September 7, 2026
“We feel that the team is well settled and all the players delivered in their respective roles in the last two matches, so we believe selecting the same matchday squad, and naming Damian back in his regular position, makes sense for the closing match of the series,” Erasmus said. “These players also know exactly what to expect from a very determined All Blacks team, who will give everything to draw the series this weekend.”
Willemse’s return is straightforward. The fullback started the first two Tests before a hamstring injury ruled him out in Cape Town, with Kolbe deputising superbly at 15 across the second and third matches. Kolbe’s broken jaw, sustained at FNB Stadium, has ended his series and he was among six players who remained in South Africa as the squad flew to the United States.
“Damian started the first two Tests and had it not been for a niggle last week, he would have also started that match, so it’s good to have him back,” Erasmus said. “He is a quality player, and he knows the guys around him very well, so it will simply be a matter of him picking up where he left off before last week.”
The more intriguing selection is van den Berg’s promotion ahead of Reinach. The Lions scrum-half made a telling impact off the bench in the third Test and Erasmus was effusive in his praise. “Morne made a fantastic impact when he took the field last week, and he deserves a chance to start, so Cobus switches to the bench where he will add experience and skill in this vital match,” the Springbok coach said.
He expanded on van den Berg’s journey to this point. “He’s not a youngster. I think he’s 27 or something like that already, so he’s not a youngster to break through. But we’ve always tracked him, and I think he’s just been unfortunate with injuries and also some really good nines that played ahead of him or got opportunities ahead of him,” Erasmus said. “After his last injury, we thought it was going to be a tough year for him to get back into the mix, but he really did his rehab really well, and he’s back to full fitness. I think last week when he got his opportunity, he really did well, and we think he deserves a start.”
The forward pack is unchanged for the third week running. Nche, Marx and Louw continue in the front row, Etzebeth and Nortje in the second row, and captain Kolisi, du Toit and Wiese in a loose trio that will extend its own record to 19 Test starts together. Etzebeth stretches his all-time caps mark to 146, while Wiese needs just one more appearance after this match to reach 50 caps.
In the backline, Feinberg-Mngomezulu starts at fly-half for a fifth consecutive Test, with Arendse and Hooker on the wings and de Allende and Kriel continuing their settled midfield partnership. The bench is also unchanged from the third Test — Fourie, Steenekamp, Thomas du Toit, de Jager, Esterhuizen and Hanekom as the six forward replacements, with Reinach and Libbok the two specialist backs.
Erasmus confirmed that Handre Pollard, who has missed the last three Tests with a calf injury, is fit again and will likely feature against Australia in Perth on 27 September — the one-off Test the squad will travel to directly from Baltimore. Franco Mostert is also expected to return for that fixture.
Saturday’s match will be the first Springbok Test in Baltimore and only the fourth in the United States. South Africa have played three previous Tests on American soil — victories over the USA in 1981 and 2001, and a narrow 22-20 defeat to Wales in Washington DC in 2018, which was Erasmus’s first match in charge as head coach. The 2031 Rugby World Cup will be hosted in the USA, lending additional significance to high-profile fixtures on American soil.
Erasmus was blunt about the stakes. “If we don’t win, then we have achieved nothing,” he said.
He expected the All Blacks, who have lost Ardie Savea, Luke Jacobson and Quinn Tupaea to series-ending injuries from the third Test, to come out swinging regardless. “We have faced the All Blacks three weeks in a row, and just like us, they are a proud team who showed last week that they will never stop fighting until the final whistle, so we are under no illusions about the magnitude of the challenge ahead this weekend,” Erasmus said.
“That said, we are equally determined to finish the series strongly and give everything to lift the trophy, and the players are excited about the match. We have no doubt that it’s going to be another epic encounter that will require a full-blown 80-minute effort on attack and defence.”
Springboks:
15. Damian Willemse (DHL Stormers, 54 caps)
14. Kurt-Lee Arendse (Mitsubishi Dynaboars, 34 caps)
13. Jesse Kriel (Canon Eagles, 93 caps)
12. Damian de Allende (Wild Knights, 102 caps)
11. Ethan Hooker (Hollywoodbets Sharks, 12 caps)
10. Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu (DHL Stormers, 23 caps)
9. Morne van den Berg (Lions, 9 caps)
8. Jasper Wiese (Urayasu D-Rocks, 48 caps)
7. Pieter-Steph du Toit (Toyota Verblitz, 101 caps)
6. Siya Kolisi (c) (DHL Stormers, 106 caps)
5. Ruan Nortje (Kubota Spears, 23 caps)
4. Eben Etzebeth (Hollywoodbets Sharks, 145 caps)
3. Wilco Louw (DHL Stormers, 34 caps)
2. Malcolm Marx (Kubota Spears, 92 caps)
1. Ox Nche (Hollywoodbets Sharks, 51 caps)
Replacements:
16. Deon Fourie (DHL Stormers, 15 caps)
17. Gerhard Steenekamp (Vodacom Bulls, 22 caps)
18. Thomas du Toit (Hollywoodbets Sharks, 36 caps)
19. Lood de Jager (Wild Knights, 76 caps)
20. Andre Esterhuizen (Hollywoodbets Sharks, 34 caps)
21. Cameron Hanekom (Vodacom Bulls, 5 caps)
22. Cobus Reinach (DHL Stormers, 56 caps)
23. Manie Libbok (Kintetsu Liners, 33 caps)
Match details: South Africa v New Zealand, M&T Bank Stadium, Baltimore. Saturday 12 September (Saturday 13 September NZT), 17:00 EDT / 23:00 SA time. Live on SuperSport.

