Steve Hansen is flagging what he sees as the hidden danger of the All Blacks' tour opener against the Stormers — not the quality of individual players, but the collective chip-on-the-shoulder energy that fringe Springbok hopefuls bring to these fixtures. His point is that provincial sides facing touring All Blacks teams aren't playing a friendly; they're auditionining for Rassie while trying to physically break the tourists, and that combination makes for a nastier afternoon than the fixture looks on paper. Hansen also weighs in on Rennie's 44-man squad, defending the selection logic around the loose forward depth (Savea, Segner, Jacobson all covering seven) to explain why Kirifi missed out, and framing Blackadder's inclusion as a deliberate signal that Rennie wants 'hard-nosed' characters who can absorb the physical hostility of a South African tour.
Hansen: Stormers will treat the All Blacks like a trial run for Rassie
Hansen warns that fringe Springbok hopefuls will treat the Stormers v All Blacks fixture as a Rassie audition played at full physical intensity — and breaks down Rennie's squad logic around the loose forward selections.
- New Zealand
- DHL Stormers
- Springboks
- 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.
So how deep is the Springbok squad?
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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.