Ben Smith's read on the Rugby's Greatest Rivalry series cuts to something beyond the obvious set-piece narrative — it's his breakdown of the aerial battle where the analysis gets genuinely interesting. Smith credits Brown with recognising that the All Blacks' tactic of wingers retreating to catch high balls had a vulnerability: the point of contact. Rather than kicking to the same spot, Brown shifted where the Boks targeted their kicks, turning what looked like a defensive adjustment by New Zealand into a liability. Smith describes it plainly as manipulation — the Boks didn't just out-muscle the All Blacks under the high ball, they out-thought them. He also flags the Baltimore finale as having Brown's fingerprints all over South Africa's wider attacking shape, suggesting the Boks are now balancing their traditional set-piece and kicking game with genuine edge threat. For Springbok supporters, the most pointed takeaway is Smith's acknowledgment that this is a genuine point of difference South Africa have developed — trained deliberately, executed under pressure — and one he expects to shape how teams approach the aerial contest well into the World Cup cycle.