Alex Spink's verdict on the Cape Town Test is broadly positive but laced with caution: the Boks were better, smarter and more clinical than in Johannesburg, but they needed almost everything to go right to win by seven. The piece highlights the turnaround in red zone efficiency — from a dismal 0.9 points per visit at Ellis Park to 4.0 at DHL Stadium — and credits Kolbe's perfect kicking record (seven from seven in the series) as the decisive factor. Erasmus's in-game management and Marx's breakdown work also get recognition.
But the analysis pivots sharply on what comes next. The front-row switch — starting with the bench props shortly before kick-off without medical cover — is flagged as a breach of the spirit of the game, even if it fell within the tour agreement's rules. Spink argues the Erasmus mind games, which also included late changes at fly-half and on the wing, will serve as rocket fuel for the All Blacks in Soweto. The series-levelling win strips the Boks of every motivational lifeline they leaned on in Cape Town — home ground, Kolisi's return, siege mentality — while a wounded All Blacks side arrives with a grievance. The piece frames the decider as genuinely open, and warns that the margin in Cape Town was far too thin for comfort.