Morné van den Berg was named Man of the Match as the Springboks beat New Zealand 43-28 at M&T Bank Stadium on Saturday, sealing Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry series 3-1 in front of 68,173 — the largest rugby Test crowd in United States history.
Morné van den Berg Takes the Springbok No.9 Jersey
It was his first start of the series. Grant Williams had started the opener at Ellis Park before injury ruled him out, Cobus Reinach took over for the next two Tests, and van den Berg made his mark off the bench. A week before Baltimore, Erasmus handed him the Springbok No.9 jersey for the decider.
Rassie Erasmus, Springbok head coach:
“Morné made a fantastic impact when he took the field last week, and he deserves a chance to start, so Cobus switches to the bench where he will add experience and skill in this vital match.”
The Springboks scrumhalf answered with a try, a turnover penalty, a conversion, and the kind of control at the base that set the Springboks’ tempo for eighty minutes.
A try in the 21st minute, pulling the ball back from a five-metre driving maul and selling a dummy to snipe over for the score. A turnover penalty in the 44th minute that killed New Zealand‘s first attack of the second half. A conversion after Pieter-Steph du Toit’s try in the 53rd minute, after taking over the kicking tee. Box-kicking, fringe defence and tempo that shaped the Springboks’ game from kickoff.
WeTalkRugby scored him 9.5 out of 10 for the performance — the highest mark handed to any Springbok across the four-Test series. It was the clearest Man of the Match display of the entire series, home or away.
A Record Night for US Rugby
The 68,173 fans at M&T Bank Stadium set the mark for the largest rugby Test crowd in United States history. The Springboks let home advantage slip at Ellis Park in the series opener, then won back to back at Cape Town and Soweto before flying to Baltimore to close it out. The Boks crossed for six tries on the night, van den Berg’s among them, with Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu adding two conversions and a penalty and Manie Libbok two more conversions off the bench.
That result turned a 1-0 series deficit after Ellis Park into a 3-1 win, and gave the sellout Baltimore crowd a performance to leave talking about. Baltimore hosting a decider of this scale was itself part of the story before a ball was kicked, part of World Rugby’s push to grow the game in the United States, and van den Berg’s Man of the Match turn gave the occasion a name.
What Baltimore Changes at Scrumhalf
It’s not the first time Erasmus has talked about him this way. Ahead of the Barbarians match in June 2025, with the Springbok No.9 jersey still Reinach’s and Williams’s to lose, he made the comparison that stuck.
Rassie Erasmus, Springbok head coach, on the comparison:
“Morné reminds me a lot of Aaron Smith. I don’t know if that’s a good or a bad thing, but Aaron Smith was a great No.9.”
Erasmus added:
“He is such a hard worker and such a particular guy in the way he wants to get things right. He is exceptionally fit — he was one of the guys who did the best in the fitness test. I think he is a tidy and sharp player, but he only has two Test matches.”
Erasmus nominated him for a URC Player of the Season award that year too — an award that usually goes to a player from a winning side. The Lions weren’t. It was recognition earned in a losing season, banked for later.
Van den Berg, known inside camp as Krappie, is 28 and was born and schooled in Johannesburg, at Hoërskool Linden, before converting from schoolboy centre to scrumhalf. He worked his way up through Lions age-grade rugby and the Currie Cup before breaking into the URC squad, then the Springbok fold. He talked about Saturday like a man who had waited for it rather than one who’d simply been handed it.
Morné van den Berg, Springboks scrumhalf:
“Obviously, 1-0 down after Ellis Park, we had to dig deep. It’s a special group we have here and it is special to play for this team.”
Morné van den Berg, Springboks scrumhalf:
“It’s a dream come true playing against the All Blacks. You honestly dream of this when you’re a young boy… to be on this field in America, in Baltimore, in front of this amazing crowd. I am speechless.”
Grant Williams is working his way back from injury. Cobus Reinach is still a Test-class operator. Depth at scrumhalf is a Springbok luxury Erasmus has built carefully over several seasons — none of that changes what Baltimore showed. Van den Berg has had to be patient to get here, playing understudy through two seasons while the queue at 9 stayed long. In a series decider, against the All Blacks, with the Springbok No.9 jersey finally his, he delivered the standout individual performance of the series.
What’s Next After Baltimore
With the series won, attention turns to whether Erasmus keeps faith with van den Berg at 9 when the Springboks regroup for their next assignment, or whether Williams and Reinach push straight back into contention once fully fit. Either way, Baltimore has changed the conversation at scrumhalf: van den Berg is no longer the option Erasmus turns to only when the first two names are unavailable, and every future selection call at 9 will be measured against this one.
