Schalk Burger's central argument is straightforward: the All Blacks' high-tempo attacking style is physically expensive, and four Tests in a month — two of them at altitude — will expose whatever depth gaps exist in Dave Rennie's squad. His contrasting point about the Springboks is that injury and rotation have, almost accidentally, produced a third layer of Test-ready forwards. He namechecks Dixon, Wiese and Hanekom as players who've already had game time this season, with Hanekom potentially filling the Kwagga Smith impact role off the bench. Burger also anticipates Erasmus rotating deliberately between Cape Town and Johannesburg given the altitude demands, and sees Baltimore as the likely series decider — a view Justin Marshall shares, with the All Blacks great openly saying reaching game four down 2-1 would feel like a platform rather than a crisis. The broader analytical tension here is whether the All Blacks sharpen as the series progresses — Burger thinks they will adapt after the first Test — but whether that adaptation comes fast enough to outpace the Boks' depth advantage.
Burger: All Blacks' tempo game could unravel over a four-Test series
Burger argues the All Blacks' tempo game carries a cumulative cost across a four-Test series, while the Springboks' rotation-driven depth — including Hanekom as a potential Kwagga-style finisher — gives Erasmus structural flexibility his opposite number may lack.
- New Zealand
- Springboks
- Elrigh Louw
- Kwagga Smith
- Rassie Erasmus
All Blacks' loosehead crisis hands Springboks a ready-made weapon in Greatest Rivalry Series
Jeff Wilson has publicly identified loosehead prop as the All Blacks' most dangerous weakness ahead of four consecutive Tests against the Springboks — with Williams likely out, Tu'ungafasi's future uncertain, and the remaining options short on caps and experience. Set against the depth Erasmus has built across the prop positions, this piece maps out why scrum time could be where the Greatest Rivalry Series is decided.
Stephen Donald: Robertson copied the Boks — Rennie must go back to All Blacks DNA
Stephen Donald backs Hansen's anti-copycat argument, saying Robertson erred by chasing the Springbok blueprint rather than New Zealand's tempo-based strengths — and expects Rennie to correct that course ahead of a blockbuster four-Test series in South Africa.
Mulder's '95 Warning: Don't Sleep on the All Blacks
1995 World Cup winner Japie Mulder warns against writing off the All Blacks ahead of the four-Test series, drawing on South Africa's own underdog story to argue the gap in rankings doesn't guarantee a comfortable series win.
Boks remain top but All Blacks close gap to 2.90 points after Nations Championship opener
South Africa stay top of the World Rugby Men's Rankings at 93.94 points but New Zealand have cut the gap to 2.90 after beating France, while Scotland climb to equal their all-time high of fifth following a record 47-38 win over Argentina in Córdoba.
Rassie's Bomb Squad reset: Who fills the Snyman and Smith void?
Cardinelli breaks down how the enforced absences of Snyman and Smith force Erasmus to reimagine the Bomb Squad, with Paul de Villiers earmarked for a key role and the flyhalf pecking order wide open heading into the Nations Championship.