John Kirwan is convinced Mo'unga will tour South Africa regardless of NZR's eligibility stance, predicting Dave Rennie will manufacture an injury workaround to get him on the plane. On the Rivals podcast, Kirwan was blunt — he expects someone to conveniently 'pull a hammy' so Mo'unga can fulfil his Canterbury requirement and become available overnight. Victor Matfield backed the read, drawing a direct parallel to Rassie's Marx-for-Pollard move at RWC 2023 as a template for exactly this kind of selective rule-bending. NZR CEO Steve Lancaster has publicly restated the eligibility rules, but Kirwan thinks public opinion is firmly on Mo'unga's side and no one would care if the rule got bent. The broader fly-half picture for the tour is also canvassed — Barrett and McKenzie are the established names, but Ruben Love's breakout Hurricanes season has him pushing hard, and Kirwan flags that the 10 role's tactical complexity means experience still counts for a lot in South Africa.
Kirwan backs Mo'unga loophole — and Matfield sees a Pollard precedent
Kirwan is certain Mo'unga tours South Africa via an injury loophole, with Matfield citing the Rassie/Pollard RWC precedent — and NZR's CEO publicly holding the line changes nothing in Kirwan's view.
- New Zealand
- Rassie Erasmus
- Springboks
- Malcolm Marx
- Handré Pollard
Erasmus: winning stays non-negotiable, whatever the World Cup build-up demands
Erasmus has made his 2025 season intent explicit: rotation and World Cup-building happen inside a framework where winning remains the non-negotiable baseline. The piece breaks down what that means for squad management, the veterans' standing, and why the All Blacks series carries extra weight.
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.