The points South Africa have been conceding — to the All Blacks across the series and to the Wallabies in Perth — have raised questions about Jerry Flannery's defensive system. Gary Gold and Kevin Foote push back firmly on that narrative. Gold's argument is structural: the Boks run a deliberately aggressive, line-speed defence that accepts a degree of error as the cost of imposing maximum pressure. The trade-off is that when it works, it forces opposition mistakes and feeds South Africa's scrum game — which Foote identifies as a core design feature, not a side effect. Foote also credits Australia's triple-stack attacking alignment as a specific counter to line-speed defences, giving them the width to play around an aggressive rush when the timing is off. Neither man sees the conceded points as a systemic failure; both frame it as the known liability of a high-reward system that the Boks have no intention of walking away from.
High risk, high reward: Why the Bok defence isn't broken
Gold and Foote argue the Bok defence isn't broken — the points being conceded are a calculated cost of running a high-pressure line-speed system, and forcing opposition errors to feed the scrum is a deliberate design choice, not a flaw.
- Springboks
- New Zealand
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- Jerry Flannery
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.