Dave Rennie is under no illusions about what's coming. After sweeping through all three tour matches against Bok-depleted franchise sides, he's openly acknowledged the step-up will be enormous — describing the intensity the Springboks will bring as 'three, four, fivefold' greater than anything his side has faced so far. The piece examines what the All Blacks have actually learned from the tour: scrummaging improvement following a shaky start against the Stormers (credited to Jason Ryan's work), altitude exposure in Pretoria, and the kind of decision-making pressure they'll need against a Bok defence that operates at a different level entirely. Rennie is encouraged but clear-eyed — 11 line breaks to the Bulls' one shows attacking intent, yet he acknowledges points were left on the field. The core question the article raises is whether this tour preparation, against sides missing the bulk of their Test players, has genuinely readied the All Blacks — or whether the real audit only begins once Erasmus unleashes his full squad.
Rennie warns the Boks will be 'fivefold' the test as All Blacks eye Test series
Rennie flags a massive step-up ahead, warning the Boks will be 'fivefold' more intense than anything the All Blacks have faced on tour. The piece weighs what was genuinely learned — scrum improvement, altitude acclimatisation, attacking fluency — against the obvious caveat that all three franchise wins came against heavily depleted opposition.
- New Zealand
- Springboks
- DHL Stormers
- Vodacom Bulls
- Rassie Erasmus
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.
Erasmus: winning stays non-negotiable, whatever the World Cup build-up demands
Erasmus has made his 2025 season intent explicit: rotation and World Cup-building happen inside a framework where winning remains the non-negotiable baseline. The piece breaks down what that means for squad management, the veterans' standing, and why the All Blacks series carries extra weight.
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.