Dave Rennie is using the All Blacks' July series defeat as a platform to push for fundamental scrum reform, arguing that complexity in the laws is doing more damage than the Springboks themselves. His core complaint: the 2024 brake foot law distracted referees from what he sees as the real problem — South African tightheads immediately angling at 45 degrees and shearing sideways rather than scrumming square. Rennie's position is that if World Rugby simply enforced a square scrum, the All Blacks could compete on pure power; it's the lateral drift that he believes is being rewarded. He's also taking aim at broader law clutter — ruck ball-handling by nines, the absence of a shot-clock on kicks, and numbers flooding rucks — and is pushing these concerns into an upcoming coaches' conference in London ahead of the November Tests. Whether that forum produces anything beyond self-interested horse-trading, he concedes, is another matter.
Rennie doubles down on Bok scrum critique — and wants World Rugby to rip up the rulebook
Rennie is pressing World Rugby to strip back scrum laws rather than add to them, arguing the brake foot has made refereeing harder while South African tightheads continue to angle and shear unpunished. He wants a simple mandate — scrum square — and believes the All Blacks can handle the Boks' power if the laws are applied cleanly.
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.