Steve Hansen has gone on record acknowledging that the All Blacks simply weren't good enough to beat the Springboks across the Rugby's Greatest Rivalry series, identifying four specific areas where South Africa dominated: pre-breakdown work (particularly getting bodies over the ball — he singles out Marx by name), scrumming on South Africa's own ball, dealing with the high ball, and stopping the maul. His diagnosis is that conceding too many penalties at scrum time gifted the Boks the platform to run their lineout-maul game, which is where the tries came from. Hansen does see the Baltimore showing as marginally improved in New Zealand's own lineout, and his broader argument is that none of these deficits are structural — they're fixable, and quickly. His reasoning for optimism rests on the All Blacks' internal pressure culture: losing the series will sit in the players' guts and drive the standard up. For Springbok supporters, this is a useful read on exactly which levers Rassie's team pulled to win the series, assessed by someone who knows All Blacks rugby from the inside.
Hansen pinpoints exactly where the Boks broke the All Blacks — and why it worries him
Hansen itemises the four areas — breakdown work, scrum dominance on SA ball, high ball, and maul defence — where the Springboks exposed the All Blacks across the series, while arguing the gaps are fixable rather than structural.
- New Zealand
- Springboks
- Malcolm Marx
- 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.
So how deep is the Springbok squad?
Lekker! Hola! Head to https://squarespace.com/squidgerugby to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain using code SQUIDGERUGBY