South Africa levelled the Rugby's Greatest Rivalry series at one apiece with a 33-26 victory over New Zealand at DHL Stadium on Saturday night, setting up a series decider at FNB Stadium.
The result came a week after what was the heaviest points defeat under Rassie Erasmus in the opening test at Ellis Park, and the Springboks responded with a performance that carried an entirely different intensity — in part driven by a packed and vocal DHL Stadium crowd.
The build-up was dominated by a last-minute front-row reshuffle, with Thomas du Toit, Deon Fourie and Gerhard Steenekamp starting despite having been named on the bench earlier in the week. Dave Rennie had also spent the week publicly questioning the Springbok scrum, adding an edge to the occasion.
The Boks came out sharply, their first lineout producing a rolling maul before Jesse Kriel muscled over for the opening try — a direct response to the toothless 22m entries that had characterised the first test. Eben Etzebeth and Siya Kolisi led a suffocating defensive effort, with Etzebeth in particular carrying a physicality that set the tone in the collisions.
New Zealand, however, remained dangerous throughout, with Cam Roigard threading a wide ball for Will Jordan, who beat Kriel and Damian de Allende before feeding Roigard on the inside for a try that kept the All Blacks in the contest. Despite referee Angus Gardner drawing pointed criticism — notably for allowing collapsed scrums to go unpunished and for a questionable offside call — the Boks remained composed.
The margin ultimately stayed tighter than the Springbok performance warranted, with the All Blacks' capacity to stay in tight matches keeping the scoreboard close into the final stages. The series now heads to Johannesburg for the decider.