Gavin Rich reflects on a challenge he put to Erasmus at a pre-2019 final media lunch: win not just the World Cup, but reign in the years between them — something no previous Bok generation had managed. The 1995 team fractured quickly, the 2007 cycle produced only one strong year under De Villiers. Now, seven years on, Rich argues that case is closed. Three Rugby Championship titles, a Lions series win, and the inaugural RGR trophy — alongside back-to-back World Cups — constitute a period of sustained dominance without precedent in the professional era.
Rich contextualises the Rugby Championship gaps honestly: 2020 had no Championship, 2021 was played entirely in Australian quarantine bubble conditions, and 2022 came down to a points-difference swing that didn't fall the Boks' way. The current cycle, he argues, has been the strongest yet — consistent world number one ranking, wins in Paris and Dublin, and a pipeline producing age-group dominance that suggests this isn't ending soon. He also flags a genuine structural concern: Auckland Warriors rugby league selling out Eden Park a week after the RGR series should worry Bok supporters as much as New Zealanders, because a weakened All Blacks is bad for the global game. The piece closes with Rich's personal RGR series awards, with Malcolm Marx taking MVP honours as the least replaceable Bok on the park.