Overview
- South Africa won 29-24 in Johannesburg on Saturday to move ahead 2-1 in the Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry series.
- A scrum-driven penalty try just before half-time and a rolling-maul score by Malcolm Marx in the second half were the key turning points that swung momentum to the Springboks.
- Cheslin Kolbe suffered a fractured jaw during the Soweto Test and will not travel to the USA, so Damian Willemse returns at fullback and Morne van den Berg is promoted to start at scrumhalf.
- New Zealand players and coaches have identified the Bok maul and set-piece pressure as decisive and say they will work to tighten maul defence and scrum responses ahead of the decider.
- Rassie Erasmus kept selection largely unchanged for the Baltimore final, and lock Eben Etzebeth will extend his Springbok appearance record to 146 caps in the match at M&T Bank Stadium on September 12.