With the Boks leading 2-1 heading into the Baltimore finale, Patrick Tuipulotu has offered a candid assessment of where the series has been won and lost — up front. While the All Blacks showed enough with ball in hand to suggest they're close, Tuipulotu acknowledged the Bok set-piece has consistently had the upper hand, and that negating it in the decider is the priority. His inclusion in the engine room is a direct response to that deficit. What makes the piece worth reading is the honesty: Tuipulotu isn't spinning the gap — he's calling it, which tells you something about how much pressure the Boks have actually applied across three Tests, even in the one New Zealand won.
Tuipulotu admits Bok set-piece dominance has All Blacks on the back foot heading into series decider
Tuipulotu gives a frank series debrief ahead of the Baltimore decider — the Bok set-piece has dominated, he's been brought in specifically to address it, and he's not pretending the gap doesn't exist.
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.