Dave Rennie isn't underselling the challenge — his word for this tour is 'massive,' and the piece makes clear why. A large chunk of his squad has never played in South Africa, some haven't since the SA franchises exited Super Rugby, meaning altitude, hostile crowds, and the specific physicality of South African rugby are genuine unknowns for many of his players. That inexperience problem is compounded by the fact that the Stormers, Sharks, and Bulls will all field players with a direct line of sight to Rassie Erasmus — the Gelants, Roos, Fouriés, and Mchunnus of the world will be running hard for national recalls. Rennie is also using the tour to trial young talent like Lauaki and Jacomb, and experiment with captaincy in Savea's absence. The analytical thread running through the piece is that these provincial games aren't warm-up matches — they're selection auditions for both sides, which cranks up the intensity well beyond a typical midweek tour fixture.