Best Boks vs New Zealand: ‘Krappie’ Comes Up Big In Baltimore

The Springboks lived the American dream as they stormed to a 43-28 victory over the All Blacks in Baltimore on Saturday to win the Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry series 3-1, writes Quintin van Jaarsveld.

In front of a pro-Bok crowd of 68,173 people – a record crowd for a rugby match in the USA – the double world champions showed why they’re the No. 1 team on the planet with a dominant display in the series decider.

Siya Kolisi and company did so by turning on the style, catching the Kiwis by surprise with a shift in tactics that saw them play more expansively. The Boks were by no means loose in what many billed as an exhibition game. Instead, they were more willing to run when it was on, while staying structured in the bigger scheme of things.

The result was that the men in Green and Gold outscored the All Blacks for the first time in the series, six tries to four, and pulled away in the second half after a slender 17-14 lead at the break to underline their superiority.

Damian de Allende, Morne van den Berg, Malcolm Marx, Pieter-Steph du Toit, Kurt-Lee Arendse and Cameron Hanekom were the try scorers for South Africa, who clinched the series emphatically after dropping the opening Test and celebrated Rassie Erasmus’ 100th Test as Bok boss in fitting fashion.

Our top three Springbok standouts were:

Morne van den Berg

One of the biggest individual winners of the series, Van den Berg cemented his place in the South African squad after following up an extraordinary cameo off the bench in the third Test with a polished Man of the Match performance in the fourth and final showdown.

In doing so, “Krappie” – who shed a tear during Jesse Klegg’s stirring rendition of the South African national anthem – proved to Erasmus that he’s a complete scrumhalf, one equally adept at driving a side as a starter and providing impact as a replacement. 

With the match being played at the M&T Bank Stadium, the home of the NFL’s Baltimore Ravens, Van den Berg channelled his inner Lamar Jackson and moved the chains, to use a gridiron term, like the legendary quarterback. His decision-making and execution were excellent, as he ran the attack with aplomb.

He knew exactly when to run the ball and when to go to the air, picked the right runners, sniped himself – most notably when he darted over for his sixth Test try and sped down the blindside of a dominant scrum that resulted in Du Toit’s try, which he converted – and was pinpoint accurate with his box kicks, enabling the Boks to dominate the aerial battle.

On top of that, he was fantastic in defence, making telling tackles on Ethan de Groot, Josh Moorby and Will Jordan in the first half, and a crucial tackle/turnover on opposite number Cam Roigard in the second. 

Kurt-Lee Arendse

A human scalpel, Arendse sliced and diced the All Blacks to shreds. He made his first incision in the 25th minute, made two breaks inside the first five minutes of the second half, and capped off his electrifying display by scoring the match-sealing try in the 72nd minute.

The 30-year-old was outstanding in the air as well, as highlighted by his retention in the 30th minute, and in defence, where his work included a vital tackle on Wallace Sititi on the hour mark.

He did all this while seamlessly shifting from the wing to fullback for the final quarter.

Damian de Allende

A strong candidate for Player of the Series, De Allende was absolutely colossal once again in the USA. His series-long head-to-head battle with Jordie Barrett, arguably the All Blacks’ RGR MVP, was a joy to watch and was won by the Bok centurion, who poured his heart and soul into the series.

He scored the Boks’ opening try (and his 13th international five-pointer) from close quarters after being influential in the build-up in the 12th minute, won back a bomb in the 28th minute and added his weight to the maul to help drive Marx over for his try.

Undoubtedly the best inside centre in the world, he never stopped working all series.