Springboks player ratings vs All Blacks | 4th Test Rugby's Greatest Rivalry 2026

Springboks player ratings: South Africa secured Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry series with a 43-26 win over the All Blacks at Baltimore’s M&T Bank Stadium on Saturday.

After a first half where both sides may feel they left points out there, the world champions went into the sheds with a narrow 17-14 lead, which has been a familiar scoreline at the break throughout this series.

Like last week, the Boks did not slip up after the break and continued to add the pressure and pile on the points as the match went on.

Any wastefulness that has been a feature of Rassie Erasmus’ side this series was a thing of the past in the second half, as they ran away with the match.

The Boks have won the series 3-1, here’s how the players rated:

15 Damian Willemse – 7
Rock solid under the high ball yet again, and competed well when chasing kicks. Maybe struggled to impose himself in attack and must as he would have wanted, and as a result forced things that weren’t on, resulting in a handling error at one point. Left the field shortly before the hour mark, which may have been due to the injury he was carrying, as he was still secure despite being muted.

14 Kurt-Lee Arendse – 9
Enjoyed a winding run when given half a gap midway through the first half, but otherwise did the basics expertly, winning the majority of his contestables which gave the Boks so much territory. Appeared to go up a gear in the second half, producing a couple of linebreaks after half time before the match-defining break and try late on, making Tupou Vaa’i look like a statue with his sidestep. Eight defenders beaten and 169 metres from just seven carries. Class.

13 Jesse Kriel – 6
Slipped off a couple of tackles in the first half, which the All Blacks profited from and couldn’t trouble the All Blacks’ defence like he did last week.

12 Damian de Allende – 8.5
Burrowed over from a ruck to score the Springboks’ opener. Not familiar territory for him, but took his try like a forward. Just what he deserved after being a titan in the midfield, always being on hand to take the ball into the guts of the All Blacks’ defence. With the conditions greasy, only one handling error from 18 carries was nice.

11 Ethan Hooker – 6.5
Quieter this week than his player of the match performance last week and couldn’t really impose himself on the match. Had a flashy run in the second half after latching onto a grubber kick, but was contained well by the All Blacks.

10 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu – 6
Appeared to have more of a licence to play this week, pulling off a cross-kick in his own half in the opening minutes. Things did tighten up as the match progressed, but the fly-half was still able to challenge the line with his carries. Radar was slightly off at times with his kicks from hand, and his kicking from the tee wasn’t much better, with Morne van den Berg actually replacing him as the place kicker. Had a brief stint at full-back before being substituted shortly after the hour mark.

9 Morne van den Berg – 8.5
Into the starting XV this week, and repaid Erasmus’ faith by darting over for South Africa’s second, selling a dummy to two All Blacks off the back of a maul. There is plenty of depth at No.9 for the Boks, but van den Berg made a strong case to start, posing a threat with his carrying and crisp passing, particularly when attacking the short side. His penalty won over the ball was the cherry on top of a well-rounded display.

1 Ox Nche – 7
Third time lucky at scrum time, winning a penalty on 18 minutes in the Boks’ third scrum of the match in what was a collaborative front-row effort. Looked like he and his front-row comrades were going in for the kill in the scrum in the final play of the first half, but was ultimately pinged by Karl Dickson for not scrummaging straight. Enjoyed a busy first half in the loose, putting in 13 tackles, before being replaced minutes into the second half.

2 Malcolm Marx – 7
Another week, another try courtesy of the Boks’ seemingly unstoppable maul. Didn’t last any longer after scoring his try, and was taken off with 30 minutes remaining, having put in some shift over the past four Tests. This was no different – the lineout functioned perfectly, eight carries, 10 tackles. Maybe didn’t dominate the match in the way he has done this series.

3 Wilco Louw – 7
Looked like he was about to completely fold the All Blacks’ scrum right at the end of the first half, only to look to lose his footing before Nche was penalised. Racked up 11 tackles in the first half alone, which is the kind of return Erasmus would not be expecting from his tighthead, but one he will be delighted with. Didn’t add to that in his three minutes in the second half before being substituted, but still put in some shift in a game where he wasn’t dominating in the scrum like he usually does.

4 Eben Etzebeth – 7.5
Took his A-game stateside. Killed the All Blacks’ first promising start with a smart turnover metres from his line, stole a lineout (as he’s done all series) and made the barnstorming carry that allowed De Allende to sneak over a few seconds later. That was all within the opening 15 minutes. Finished the first half with a charge down. Continued to throw his body into tackles in the second half, nothing 15 tackles.

5 Ruan Nortje – 6
Hit rucks relentlessly, which allowed the Boks to have 73 per cent of their rucks under three seconds during his time on the field, but he didn’t produce the kind of numbers his team-mates did in the first half and was part of a mass change made by Erasmus in the opening minutes of the second half.

6 Siya Kolisi – 6
Following a first half where the Boks’ captain played his part in some huge defensive efforts, racking up 10 tackles in the first half, he didn’t last too long in the second half, as fresh legs were needed following what would have been a sapping first 40.

7 Pieter-Steph du Toit – 7
Rushed out the line to close down the All Blacks, only for Cam Roigard to cut him out with his pass and put Codie Taylor in for the opening try of the match. Good thinking, but looked out of sync with his team-mates. Taken off with 15 minutes remaining after emptying the tank completely, putting in 13 tackles and even adding a try to his performance.

8 Jasper Wiese – 7.5
Gave the All Blacks a penalty advantage for being offside in the 32-phase defensive set shortly before half time, which gave the Kiwis the freedom to play with a bit more risk when the Boks looked like they were containing them. Other than that, his output in defence was very high, with the most tackles for his side, 17, and his carrying had all the venom that we’re used to, sending Taylor flying backwards at one point. With someone that gets involved in the match as much as he does, mistakes will come, and he coughed up possession when Peter Lakai ripped the ball from his clutches in the final 10 minutes.

Replacements

16 Deon Fourie – 6
Was given more time at hooker than he’s been used to this series, playing the final 30 minutes. Competed hard at the breakdown, although he did fall foul of Dickson’s whistle at one point, giving away a penalty which resulted in an All Blacks try. Fluffed one lineout in the middle of the field, giving a reminder that he isn’t the level of Marx there.

17 Gerhard Steenekamp – 6
Had the scrum looking solid, but it neither went forward nor backwards.

18 Thomas du Toit – 7
A scrum penalty minutes after coming on is exactly what Erasmus would have ordered.

19 Lood de Jager – 6.5
Brought a lot of energy from the bench, which was needed after a draining first half. Got his hands on the ball a lot.

20 Andre Esterhuizen – 6
Replaced Kolisi very soon into the second half and added some carrying power that seemed to tip the balance in the match, where the All Blacks just couldn’t quite compete.

21 Cameron Hanekom – 8
Came on for the final 15 minutes with the All Blacks with momentum, and produced a key tackle on Josh Moorby (those from New Zealand may say it was an early tackle) which saw the ball fall into Arendse’s hands and then topped off his display with a breakdown steal and try (in one motion).

22 Cobus Reinach – 6
Came on as a winger this week, which may not have been ideal, more so as it appeared to be a bit of a patchwork of a backline. Didn’t have a lot to do on the flank save for one half break.

23 Manie Libbok – 6
Had a couple of minutes to forget in the final quarter, putting a kick-off out on the full before being penalised for head-on-head contact. Shook that off with a nice line break.