Despite Rennie's very public campaign to get the scrum laws reworked after the Rugby's Greatest Rivalry series, the World Rugby coach-referee forum in London changed nothing material. The meeting was a discussion forum, not a ruling — and while Rennie led the debate on the brake foot law, he didn't carry the room. The piece notes the irony that the All Blacks promptly scrummed effectively against Scotland the following weekend, quietly dropping the victimhood narrative. Meanwhile, Erasmus attended the full day — sitting in the same room as Nick Berry — specifically to ensure South Africa had a seat at the table and no law changes slipped through without consultation. The piece frames Rennie's campaign as a pattern of trying to shape the game's laws to suit the All Blacks, citing Graham Henry's own podcast admission to that effect, but concludes that the status quo holds. For the Boks, who regard their scrum as a central attacking weapon, that's the outcome they needed. The maul will come under more scrutiny going forward, but referees are now also being directed to adopt a 'clear and obvious' threshold for TMO intervention — a development Bok fans should welcome.
Rennie's London lobbying fell flat — and the Boks' scrum won't be touched
Rennie's push to reshape scrum law at the London World Rugby forum went nowhere — the status quo holds, Erasmus was in the room throughout, and the piece argues the All Blacks' post-series victimhood narrative was always more political than principled.
- New Zealand
- Rassie Erasmus
- Springboks
- Scotland
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.
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?
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