South Africa sealed a 3-1 series victory over New Zealand with a 43-28 win in the fourth Test in Baltimore on Saturday, their first series triumph against the All Blacks in half a century.
The Boks ran in six tries to four in a dominant second-half display, having led 17-14 at the break. Damian de Allende and Morne van den Berg scored converted tries to put South Africa 17-7 ahead in the first half, before New Zealand clawed back through Will Jordan — who had also made the key break for Codie Taylor's opener — to make it a contest at halftime.
The second half belonged entirely to South Africa. Van den Berg, lively throughout, made a significant break shortly after the restart as the Boks took control. Malcolm Marx crossed for his eighth try against New Zealand, drawing level with Bryan Habana as the country's leading try-scorer against the All Blacks. Pieter-Steph du Toit added another before Kurt-Lee Arendse's brilliant solo effort inside the final ten minutes stretched the lead to 15 after the conversion. Substitute flanker Cameron Hanekom completed the scoring to put a stamp on the performance.
Eben Etzebeth was again disruptive at lineout and maul, while Jasper Wiese carried hard throughout. Van den Berg's energy at scrumhalf and the composure of the backline under the high ball were consistent themes across the 80 minutes.
New Zealand's other tries came from Ethan Blackadder and Beauden Barrett, with Damian McKenzie converting all four, but they could not live with the Springbok pressure in the second period.
Scorers — South Africa 43 (17): Tries: De Allende, Van den Berg, Marx, Du Toit, Arendse, Hanekom. Conversions: Feinberg-Mngomezulu (2), Van den Berg, Libbok (2). Penalties: Feinberg-Mngomezulu. New Zealand 28 (14): Tries: Taylor, Jordan, Blackadder, Barrett. Conversions: McKenzie (4).