After Rennie went public with complaints about the Springbok scrum — claiming South Africa were 'walking around' and lodging grievances with World Rugby — Erasmus came out swinging post-match in Cape Town. His core counter-argument: the All Blacks' own ball produced six collapsed scrums in the first Test without a word of protest from the Bok camp, so why are the accusations only flowing one way? Erasmus also flagged repeated head contacts that went unpunished in the first 40 minutes, contrasting that with the silence from his own camp after Pretoria. The deeper frustration is strategic — Erasmus believes Rennie is trying to work the referee through the media, a tactic he insists the Boks won't let go unchallenged. With the series level at 1-1, the mind games are now firmly part of the contest.
Rassie fires back at Rennie's scrum accusations: 'Don't come with that nonsense'
Erasmus went after Rennie hard after Cape Town, rejecting the 'walking around' scrum accusation as a media pressure tactic and pointing to unpunished head contacts and collapsed All Blacks scrums as evidence the complaints only flow one way. The piece captures a coach who is both genuinely irritated and deliberately counter-punching heading into a decider.
- Springboks
- Rassie Erasmus
- New Zealand
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.
So how deep is the Springbok squad?
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