Jeremy Paul has gone on the offensive against World Rugby's brake-foot law, triggered by the two scrum penalties that hurt the All Blacks against the Springboks at the weekend. His argument isn't just that the law is being over-officiated — it's that it's physically unsafe. Paul's case: when eight players hit at pace, a hooker with a planted front foot cannot absorb 900kg of force the way a player on the balls of their feet can, and the law effectively puts the hooker in a biomechanically compromised position. Kieran Read adds a different critique — that brake-foot policing is simply pointless, and that referees should focus on keeping the scrum up and square rather than hunting technical infringements. Paul goes further with a practical alternative for officials: watch the loosehead's hips, not the hooker's foot. If the defensive loosehead's hips break away from the hooker, that's the fault — everything else, he argues, is noise. Worth reading if the scrum-law debate from the weekend's Test has you wanting a front-rower's technical take on what's actually happening at the coalface.
Ex-Wallaby calls brake-foot law 'dangerous as hell' after Springboks scrum penalties sink All Blacks
Jeremy Paul argues World Rugby's brake-foot law is physically dangerous — not just over-officiated — and offers a hip-based framework for referees to simplify scrum policing, triggered by the penalties that hurt the All Blacks against the Springboks.
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.
Hansen's Right to Back Himself — But the Boks' Five-Match Streak Tells a Different Story
Jean de Villiers acknowledges Hansen's logic but argues last year's results and performances make it hard to see the All Blacks closing the gap on the Boks — and the panel get genuinely animated over what a 2-2 series tiebreaker would even look like.
Keo & Zels: Stubborn All Blacks policy make Boks smile
The boys love that New Zealand keep picking their second-best, long may it continue.
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.