Gavin Rich's argument is straightforward but well-constructed: Dave Rennie's appointment represents a genuine shift in All Black fortunes, not just a bounce. Rich draws a line from Graham Henry through Hansen to Rennie, noting that each brought coaching experience outside New Zealand — Henry and Hansen with Wales, Rennie with Glasgow and the Wallabies — and credits that broader exposure as the differentiating factor. Foster lacked it; Robertson lacked both it and the technical nous. Rennie, by contrast, has won Super Rugby twice, built a Junior World Championship dynasty, and now — in his first test against the Boks — delivered what Rich calls a tactical masterclass, specifically isolating Grant Williams to disrupt the Bok attack. Rich is explicit: Erasmus was out-thought, much as he was by Joe Schmidt at Ellis Park a year earlier.
The piece also uses the Coetzee-era squad lists to make the case for coaching impact — showing that most of the 2019 and 2023 World Cup winners were already in the system when the Boks were losing to Italy and being hammered 57-0, and that it was Erasmus who unlocked them. The implicit warning is that Rennie could do something similar for an All Black group that may be better than Robertson made them look. Rich stops short of crowning the All Blacks — their scrum remains a genuine liability against England or France — but the directional argument is clear: this All Black side, behind a coach the country is aligned with, is on the rise. For Bok supporters, the Cape Town test on Saturday carries serious weight.