BALTIMORE (AP) — South Africa finally spread its wings in the rugby test series with New Zealand and coach Rassie Erasmus wants his side to fly high in the finale.The Springboks, from 1-0 down, seek to win the series 3-1 on Saturday at the NFL home of the Baltimore Ravens while the All Blacks are hoping to square the first traditional series between them in 30 years.South Africa scored one try in the first test (lost), three tries in the second test (won) and four in the third test (won) last Saturday in Johannesburg where they were at their most expansive yet.Their traditional set-piece strength was decisive — a penalty try from a pushover scrum and a lineout maul that marched New Zealand back to its posts — but the forwards’ fearsome power was complemented by two well-taken backline tries.“Damian (de Allende) was good on Saturday, Jesse (Kriel) was very good, Ethan (Hooker) did well, so I think the guys are getting better,” Erasmus said on Monday at the team announcement.
He praised the changes in their evolving attack coached by former All Black Tony Brown.“Tony has worked really hard since the loss in the first test,” Erasmus said. “We don’t just want to score maul tries or scrum tries, we also want to use other opportunities so we’ve been working hard at that.”Erasmus believed they might have put too much focus in the first test on stopping New Zealand and not taking more risks in a game they controlled for the first hour at Ellis Park.
