South Africa's head coach Rassie Erasmus conceded the gap between the Springboks and New Zealand was marginal, after his team completed a 3-1 series win over their rivals.

The Springboks and the All Blacks headed stateside to complete their four-match series at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore on Saturday, with Erasmus' team 2-1 up.

And a 43-28 victory underlined their status as rugby's top dogs, with Damian de Allende scoring two tries as Morne van den Berg, Pieter-Steph du Toit, Kurt-Lee Arendse and Cameron Hanekom also went over.

South Africa's lead stood at a slender 17-14 at half-time, but their physical prowess and depth off the bench allowed them to pull clear late on.

"It was awesome to see so many South Africans here; I don't know how they afford it or how they got here, but it's great," Erasmus said afterwards. 

"We appreciate the people who were here, but we don't forget the people who were at home; the people in the farm or the boy in the township or the people in the shopping mall.

"That's what drives us. Obviously, we want to win and that's great for us as a team and that's why we play rugby, but we want them to be happy."

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A crowd of 68,173 – the largest ever for a rugby match in the United States – watched on as South Africa clinched their fifth straight series victory against New Zealand. 

But Erasmus denied there was a clear gulf in quality, saying: "I wouldn’t say we were the better team.

"At 60 minutes, the game was still in the balance. We appreciate that we won, but the margin between us and New Zealand is very small."

South Africa skipper Siya Kolisi added: "The way the New Zealanders came to our country and embraced our country and the way they gave themselves to the people; we came together here to thank them for that. 

"It's tough that one team has to win and one team has to lose, but we know we are going to see each other again."

The Springboks are back in action against Australia at the end of September, with the All Blacks also facing the Wallabies in back-to-back Tests the following month.