Soweto stats

At the match level….the ABs again out-gained us 373 meters to 270. They made 12 line breaks to our 5. They beat 32 tackles to our 21. We had to make 150 tackles to their 106. Once again they were the more creative team ball in hand. The difference was Carter missing two tackles which resulted in tries…two critical AB failures.

Then Love left 5 points on the table whereas we missed only one kick at goal. Sacha’s kicking today was encouraging. Then there were a series of NZ handling mistakes and Jordan’s disastrous dead ball kick, which led directly to the maul that defined the game. And NZ only secured two thirds of the kickoffs they received. The Boks pocketed all their kickoff receptions.

The territory and possession stats are interesting. The ABs had 57% of the possession, but only 47% of the territory. With the wind behind them in the second half there was a chance for Love and Roigard to pin the Boks in their half. Instead they persisted with ball in hand rugby from deep inside their half. It’s what has made them competitive but they should have focused on territory as well.

On an individual basis Dud Toit 4 of 17, Nortje 4 of 20, Hooker 5 of 16 and Dud Allende 3of 17 were statistically our worst defenders. These high missed tackle counts are now becoming a feature of Dud Toit’s game.

Eleven of 12 offloads were by NZ players.

Our ball-carrying did shift today….away from Dud Toit, who only carried twice and was used in a tighter role. No moonlighting on the wing. We used our backs more and it worked well. In prior tests some of that ball would have gone to more forward phases. When you have a Niagara of front foot ball, the backs should benefit.

Another big difference today was the kicking percentage 1 to 5.5 passes for the Boks vs 1 to 9.1 for the ABs. The penalties were even, which is surprising given how many penalties NZ seemed to be conceding at ruck and scrum.

This was a close match and the statistics don’t fully explain why NZ lost. The fact that they couldn’t use the wind effectively, demonstrated in the territory stat is perhaps the most interesting finding. The fact is it’s astonishing that a team so outgunned in the tight 5 could play us so close. As long as NZ is playing the likes of Newel in the front row, they will be under the gun. The difference in tight 5 talent has never been this stark.

Kriel and Marx tries help South Africa power past All Blacks to take series lead

Second-half tries from Jesse Kriel and Malcolm Marx inspired South Africa to a 29-24 win against New Zealand and a 2-1 lead in the four-Test series

the Guardian

Full-time! South Africa 29-24

South Africa take the home-leg of the series 2-1!

An unreal game. A game worthy of the title of Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry. It had everything. If you’re a fan of this sport – even if you’re not – this game had something for you.

Four tries each, South Africa’s second half display will be spoken about for years to come.

'Discipline hurt us at times': Dave Rennie on what went wrong in third test

Coach says discipline and scrum struggles cost the All Blacks.

NZ Herald

Springboks player ratings: Malcolm Marx 'masterclass' at the centre of All Blacks 'obliteration' as Rassie makes smart Bomb Squad decisions

🇿🇦 "World-class performance from a world-class player. He got a standing ovation when he left the pitch and deserved it." #RSAvNZL #RGR2026

Planet Rugby

All Blacks player ratings vs Springboks | 3rd Test Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry 2026

The second half, though, was a completely different contest. The All Blacks were inaccurate, and the Springboks swarmed the visitors.

rugbypass.com

Malcolm Marx: The reigning World Rugby Player of the Year produced a masterclass in hooker play. He thumped the Soweto turf when he celebrated an outrageous maul try and the fact that his name was credited with the five points was just reward for the brilliance he produced prior. His lineout darts were world-class, his breakdown work otherworldly, and he was the focal point of a brutally effective Bok scrum. A world-class performance from a world-class player. He got a standing ovation when he left the pitch and deserved it. 9

By far the best game of rugby in a long time. Lots of mistakes from both sides, but I can't recall a game that depleted my adrenaline as much as this one in recent times.

The maul try, the sequence with Ox collecting it with fingertips and passing to Manie and the sudden score from nowhere by Jessie. Just so many moments where, as a Bok fan anyway, one was just absolutely rushing.

Was so crazy I barely found time to comment on the match thread.

I needed a good hour to calm down after he game.

The usual biased garbage from Mozart.

Finding every little fault he can from the players he hates while ignoring the mistakes of the players he adores.

Reading this rubbish you'd think that New Zealand would have won this game easily if it wasn't for Leroy Carter, you'd think Pieter-Steph du Toit is a consistently weak tackler and you'd be blissfully unaware that Eben Etzebth was our joint worst player (according to the Planet Rugby rankings which Mozart uses as a reference to try denigrate PSdT).

No mention of Eben's knock-on that cost us a try, the penalty he gave away, the improvement in the side when he went off early in the second half or him being sat on his arse by Quinn Tupaea . . . just the usual trashing of PSdT at every opportunity.

Mozart, we know you're a bit angry that Rassie's team won the match, but in future, why don't you save yourself a lot of typing and just say "same again" after every match?

We'd all know exactly what you mean, you wouldn't have to type it all up and we wouldn't have to read the same biased and ignorant nonsense after every game.

A win-win for everyone, wouldn't you say?

Here's the only important stat . . . Springboks 2, New Zealand 1. The rest don't matter.

Bokke!!!

Per Dud Mozzie - On an individual basis Dud Toit 4 of 17, Nortje 4 of 20, Hooker 5 of 16 and Dud Allende 3of 17 were statistically our worst defenders. These high missed tackle counts are now becoming a feature of Dud Toit’s game

Has it occurred to Mozzie that the more attempts at tackles, even very difficult ones, the more misses there will be. If you attempt one tackle and make it you are at 100%.
DUD Mozzies long nose is severely out of joint because for some weird reason he hates Du Toit and has been finding fault with him year after dismal year. With Du Toit winning two R
World rugby player of the year awards the DUD is incensed insisting he is right and everybody else is wrong. PSDT is universally admired as one of rugby's greatest number 7 if not the greatest. That is how far out the DUD is. DItto re Rassie,
Zip it please DUD its all such tiresome repetitive drivel!

Poor reads, poor mobility, and a lack of raw physicality. Those are the reasons for his historically poor defending.

Just another example that dominance in the general stats that's published for a match does not paint the complete picture...in fact, in close matches it happen frequently that the team winning the general stats lose on the scoreboard... there's no stat to measure grit and determination...mental strength under pressure...spirit...gees...

Deus you have to be the most absurd nutter posting on this board. ahead of even the DUD Mozzie.

No that’s probably you HasBeen, loony as a fruitcake

Is it unanimous at this point that PSDT is a spent force?

After these three games I'm struggling to convince my self that anyone of Cam, Roos or Elrigh couldn't provide more than Steph.

Of course his experience counts for something, but there is a cut off point and where you're a 7 that can't make ground in contact anymore then I think you're just about there.

I also think it's pretty childish to treat a point like the above as though it's some kind of betrayal. Everybody gets to a point where the body isn't there anymore. I think Steph is there is there now.

The other oldies still seem okay though.

Watched that game again - we were definitely the better side. Some of the Kiwi tries had so much luck going their way. Kick aheads landing in the hands of the Kiwi’s, the Savea and Jordan tries that had luck going their way

All series the Kiwi’s have definitely had the bounce of the ball in their favour

As always stats provide no context, evidenced by the fact that viewing the game confirms the Boks were the better side on the day

As for PSDT, he had a good game.

Spent forces are Reinach and Fourie