The piece examines reaction to Erasmus's expletive-laden press conference rebuttal after Dave Rennie's scrum-walking allegations in Cape Town. Former All Black Ant Strachan takes a nuanced line — conceding Erasmus "does things that are probably not acceptable" while acknowledging the method works: his players would die for him. NZ Herald correspondent Gregor Paul is less charitable, arguing Rassie created a scrum controversy that wasn't actually decisive in the result, and that World Rugby should have a word about the language. Paul's broader point is sharp: by firing back so publicly, Erasmus handed the narrative to the scrum rather than the series-levelling win. The piece also captures Rennie's measured original comments about scrum spacing — the spark that lit the fuse — and Erasmus's full counter-argument around head contacts and lineout skew that context the f-bomb moment.
Theatre or overreach? Ex-All Black weighs in on Rassie's post-match meltdown
Ant Strachan and Gregor Paul dissect Erasmus's post-Cape Town press conference eruption — one sympathetic to the method, the other arguing Rassie turned a non-issue into the headline and handed the All Blacks a narrative gift.
- Rassie Erasmus
- Springboks
- New Zealand
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.
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.
So how deep is the Springbok squad?
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