Shane Howarth is broadly encouraged by what he saw from the All Blacks under Dave Rennie in the Nations Championship — particularly the attacking variety and the multiple running lines being offered to ball carriers — but he flags the defence as a work in progress. Soft tries were conceded, and Howarth frames it as a connectivity issue that should tighten with more game time together. His core warning, though, is pointed: those defensive holes will be punished far more brutally by the Springboks than by the sides New Zealand just faced. His tactical read is that Rennie's team cannot afford to be camped near their own line and must resist the urge to go direct at the Bok pack — the only path to winning the series runs through moving South Africa around, not through them.
Howarth: All Blacks' defensive leaks 'easily fixed' — but the Boks will expose them if not
Howarth backs the All Blacks' attacking evolution under Rennie but warns their defensive leaks need urgent fixing before the South Africa series — going toe-to-toe with the Bok forwards, he argues, is a losing strategy.
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.