Both Erasmus and Du Toit were candid after the 16-33 defeat: the Boks simply didn't get New Zealand's game plan right. Du Toit acknowledged the All Blacks played differently to what the Boks had prepared for, while Erasmus zeroed in on New Zealand's stripping tactic in the tackle — legal, deliberate, and effective enough to deny Marx a first-half maul try and disrupt the Boks' set-piece dominance throughout. Erasmus noted the Boks controlled territory and possession for much of the first 50 minutes but failed to convert that pressure into points, pointing to a key 56th-minute decision to scrum rather than kick a penalty in front of the posts — a call that backfired. His post-match tone was notably hard on the Boks rather than generous to New Zealand: 'It's not a wake-up call. There's just so many things that we did wrong.' The piece is worth reading for the specific tactical detail Erasmus offered on how New Zealand neutralised the maul and managed breakdown pressure — and for what it signals about where the Boks need to improve ahead of the remainder of the series.