Both the Springboks and the All Blacks have a history of playing matches on US soil. South Africa faced the USA in Houston in 2001 and visited Washington DC in 2018 to face Wales. New Zealand have played numerous games in Chicago in recent years taking on Ireland and USA, as well as in San Diego (v Fiji) and Washington (v USA).

The biggest crowd at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore was 72,026 spectators, set on March 7, 2026, during a Major League Soccer match where D.C. United hosted Lionel Messi and Inter Miami.

Baltimore is no stranger to sporting genius the birthplace of Babe Ruth – the Legendary baseball player was born here in 1895 as was Michael Phelps the Record-breaking Olympic swimmer in 1985.

But yesterday 8,096 miles from their Johannesburg home South Africa entertained New Zealand in the fourth and final instalment of the self proclaimed ‘Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry’ series.

Well, Baltimore certainly got a rugby lesson last night — and unfortunately for the All Blacks, it came with a fairly hefty South African try count.

The Springboks ran out 43–28 winners over New Zealand wrapping up a 3–1 series victory and leaving the All Blacks to contemplate what exactly went wrong. The short answer is probably: South Africa happened.

New Zealand started brightly enough and looked determined to make a contest of it, but the Springboks gradually turned the screw. Six South African tries, some ferocious defence and the sort of physicality that made many locals in the crowd wonder why rugby players don’t wear body armour-eventually proved too much.

Kurt-Lee Arendse produced a cracking long-range try, Cameron Hanekom added another late on, and Morné van den Berg picked up the Player of the Match award. Somewhere in the All Blacks camp, meanwhile, someone was presumably searching Google for “How to stop the Springboks when they have momentum.”

For the 68,000-plus crowd in Baltimore, it was quite an introduction to international rugby. There were big hits and spectacular tries and a Haka.

And what a setting for it. Two of rugby’s greatest rivals going head-to-head in an NFL stadium, with the Springboks eventually turning Baltimore green and gold. The Americans may not yet have all the rules figured out, but after last night they certainly know one thing: South Africans are very large, very determined, and really don’t like losing.

For New Zealand, the series ends 3–1 — which means there will be plenty of soul-searching on the flight home. For South Africa, it’s another statement win and a reminder that when the Boks get rolling, stopping them is rather like trying to stop a freight train with a strongly worded letter.

The series has been captivating and has underlined the stark gulf between the top teams and those other so called Tier one nations who can only dream of performing at the same level of pace and power.

Meanwhile, Baltimore got a night to remember and the Springboks got the win, the series and the bragging rights.