John Kirwan is pushing for a southern hemisphere hybrid competition — essentially a reconstituted URC-style format with SA franchises — that would allow NZR to pick players based at those clubs without triggering eligibility issues. His core argument is that New Zealand's closed system, which forces a binary choice between overseas contracts and All Black eligibility, is bleeding the player pool of maturing talent that SA Rugby retains access to simply by allowing overseas-based Springboks to stay in the frame. Kirwan's anecdote about Jamison Gibson-Park — whom he coached at the Blues and describes as underprepared and 'a bit loose' — illustrates the point: players NZR wrote off as fringe have gone abroad, developed, and become world-class without NZR ever being able to reclaim them. Harry Plummer, now Top 14 top points scorer with Clermont, is his live example of the same pattern repeating. For Springbok supporters, this is an interesting read because Kirwan explicitly holds up SA Rugby's eligibility model as the smarter approach, and because any push for a revived southern hemisphere club competition would directly reshape the landscape South African franchises currently dominate.
Kirwan's fix for the All Blacks' overseas drain: bring SA clubs back into the fold
Kirwan argues NZR's closed eligibility model is costing the All Blacks a generation of maturing talent — and holds up SA Rugby's overseas-player policy as the model to follow, while pushing for a new southern hemisphere club competition as the structural fix.
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.
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.
Springbok Recall! Relive Phepsi Buthelezi's 2025/26 Season
#SharksRugby #PhepsiButhelezi #Springboks
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.