Dave Rennie has been candid about what went wrong in Soweto — New Zealand's own handling errors fed directly into the scrum cycle that allowed the Boks to repeatedly piggyback upfield through penalties and driving maul. His solution for the Baltimore decider is blunt: be more accurate in possession to keep the scrum out of the game, and then trust referee Karl Dickson to read the pictures correctly — a pointed remark given the ongoing All Blacks-World Rugby dispute over scrum legalities. To address the set-piece itself, Rennie has retained only Sam Darry from the starting tight five. A shortened preparation week — both teams shared a charter flight to the US with travel delays — has limited his ability to actually fix the mechanics on the training paddock, which makes the selection overhaul feel more like a personnel gamble than a structural solution. In the loose forwards, injuries to Savea and Jacobson have reshuffled the deck, with Tupou Vaa'i moving to six, Ethan Blackadder starting at blindside, and Wallace Sititi again on the bench despite near-starting consideration. The piece is worth reading for Rennie's unusually direct admission that the Boks' scramble defence and continuity-disruption was the real problem — not just New Zealand's set-piece — and for what his squad selections reveal about his priorities going into a series-levelling Test.
Rennie's RGR decider blueprint: front five overhaul and faith in the referee
Rennie has overhauled his tight five for Baltimore, acknowledging that New Zealand's own errors fed the scrum-penalty-piggyback cycle that hurt them in Soweto. With a truncated prep week, he's banking on personnel changes and referee Karl Dickson to turn the set-piece tide in the RGR decider.
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.