Angus Opperman rates the Lions individually after their narrow 41-35 loss to the All Blacks at Ellis Park — the final provincial match of the Greatest Rivalry series. The clear standout is Siba Mahashe (9/10), who Opperman argues deserved official player of the match and gave Erasmus genuine selection food for thought with a line-out intercept try, tireless defensive work, and a hand in Cronje's second-half score. Nico Steyn, Chris Smith, Sebastian Lombard, and SJ Kotze all earn 7.5s for controlling their respective zones, while Kelly Mpeku gets the same for his work-rate off the ball. The damage at the death came largely from the replacement front row — Venter and Schoeman both rated below 5 — with Venter's scrum capitulation directly enabling Nawara's match-sealing try, a pointed note given his Bok squad status. Opperman's verdict is that the Lions showed enough to head into next season with confidence, but the bench impact remains a concern.
Lions player ratings: Mahashe the standout in 41-35 defeat to All Blacks
Opperman's post-match ratings single out Siba Mahashe as the Lions' standout in a creditable 41-35 loss, while pointing to the replacement front row — particularly Bok squad member Boan Venter — as the reason the game slipped away late.
- Emirates Lions
- New Zealand
- Rassie Erasmus
- Springboks
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?
Lekker! Hola! Head to https://squarespace.com/squidgerugby to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain using code SQUIDGERUGBY
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.