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Kolbe opens up on homecoming, heroes, and getting 'smoked' by Francois Steyn
Kolbe reflects on career highlights, the Francois Steyn collision that left him with broken ribs, the cultural pull of Cape Town's All Blacks fanbase, and the personal reasons behind his Stormers homecoming.
Scrum penalty, boot change, and a 21-0 collapse — how the All Blacks stole Ellis Park
A single scrum penalty — partly self-inflicted by a lengthy Etzebeth boot change — ended the Boks' dominance and handed the All Blacks a 33-16 win. The column dissects how New Zealand's hand speed and red-zone efficiency trumped Springbok power that generated pressure but not points, and why the Cape Town decider is set to be even more brutal.
Erasmus pulls no punches after Johannesburg humbling
Erasmus gave an unusually blunt post-match assessment after the Ellis Park loss — no excuses, no lessons claimed, just a direct admission that the Boks failed to execute and New Zealand's intensity exposed every lapse. With three wins now needed to take the series, Cape Town becomes the pivot.
Rennie's 'massive stat' explains how the All Blacks turned a scrappy arm-wrestle into a 17-point win
Rennie's key post-match stat — 3.67 vs 0.91 points per 22-entry — explains how a tight arm-wrestle became a convincing scoreline, with New Zealand's clinical finishing and unusually stingy defence neutralising a Bok attack that typically scores 5.5 points per 22-metre entry.
All Blacks player ratings: Who shone and who struggled in the Ellis Park win
Jordie Barrett headlined a strong All Blacks backline display at Ellis Park, but the starting front row was badly exposed by Bok scrum pressure — Rugby365 rates every New Zealand player from the 33-16 win.
Player Ratings: Boks vs All Blacks — Wiese Towers, Williams Wobbles
Wiese was exceptional and the front row gave the All Blacks scrum problems, but backline dysfunction — amplified by Arendse's early exit — and ill-disciplined finishing from the bench tell the story of why the Boks lost by 17 in Johannesburg.
Erasmus: 'We didn't need to learn from this — we knew what to do and didn't do it'
Erasmus isn't sugar-coating the 33-16 loss — he says the Boks knew what was required and failed to deliver it, with New Zealand's sharpness forcing the errors rather than any tactical surprise. He's leaning on historical precedent (2021 Lions, 2019 World Cup) to frame the series deficit as recoverable, but the reality is stark: three wins on the trot, starting in Cape Town on Saturday.
Rennie expects a different Bok beast in Cape Town
Rennie and Savea praised the All Blacks' Ellis Park composure but are bracing for a fired-up Bok reply in Cape Town — the piece captures their cautious post-match tone.
Bok dominance wasted: How inaccuracy and ill-discipline handed the All Blacks a shock Ellis Park win
Rich's analysis argues the Boks were the better team for long periods but gifted the All Blacks a win through a Marx knock-on over the line, tactical naivety at scrum penalties, and two yellow cards that left them with 13 men — handing New Zealand a 33-16 win and a 1-0 series lead heading to Cape Town.
All Blacks deliver a statement at Ellis Park — and the Boks must answer
New Zealand put 33 points on the Boks at Ellis Park, exposing uncharacteristic handling errors and a discipline collapse that left South Africa with two men in the bin. The All Blacks were clinical where it mattered — five tries, a first Ellis Park win since 2022, and a series lead that will demand a significant Bok response.
Wiese carries the fight, but errors and injuries sink the Boks at Ellis Park
Wiese, Louw and Nche were the rare bright spots in an 8 vs 4 spread that tells the story — Bok forward grunt was there, but backline errors and a brutal injury toll gifted the All Blacks the margin.
All Blacks player ratings: Jordan and Jordie the difference-makers as Rennie's big calls pay off
Jordan and Jordie Barrett were the standout performers in the 33-16 win, but the ratings piece digs into Rennie's selection calls — Holland and Jacobson both justified their inclusions — while the scrum remains an area of concern despite a bench-driven recovery.
Ruthless All Blacks punish wasteful Boks despite scrum hammering
The Boks obliterated the All Blacks at scrum time yet lost 33-16 — the piece breaks down why South Africa's failure to convert 22-metre dominance into points was the decisive factor, and what both teams must fix before Cape Town.
All Blacks player ratings: Jordan and Jordie the difference-makers as Boks pay for second-half fade
Jordan and Barrett carried the All Blacks to a 33-16 win, but the scrum was a genuine weak point — Planet Rugby's ratings break down where Rennie's big calls paid off and where the Boks inflicted real damage.
Scrum dominance means nothing if you can't finish: Five takeaways from Ellis Park
Ellis Park delivered atmosphere and scrum carnage, but the Boks' inability to convert 22-metre dominance into points — 1.1 points per entry vs New Zealand's 4.3 — was the real story of a 33-16 defeat. Full breakdown of the tactical and physical toll across both squads.
Vermeulen: Rassie has gone from physically intense to psychologically ruthless
Vermeulen gives a candid 20-year read on Erasmus's evolution — from physically disruptive training presence to surgical psychological operator — with De Villiers adding that nothing Rassie says or does is accidental.
Kolbe on broken ribs, All Black fans in the family, and why he's finally coming home
Kolbe opens up ahead of the All Blacks Test on the Francois Steyn hit that may have cracked his ribs, his favourite tries, the All Black fans still in his family circle, and why coming home to Cape Town was finally the right call.
Why the Bomb Squad's absence changes everything — and why Planet Rugby is calling an All Blacks upset at Ellis Park
Planet Rugby flips its prediction from a nine-point Bok win to an eight-point All Blacks upset, with Erasmus's shock 5-3 bench the decisive factor — stripping out the fourth-quarter front-row advantage that has defined Springbok series dominance for years.
Roigard flags Williams and Reinach as genuine threats ahead of Ellis Park Test
Roigard previews the Ellis Park Test with a frank assessment of Williams and Reinach — their speed, ruck threat, and kicking platform — while revealing the All Blacks have a specific plan to neutralise the Bok box-kick. He believes adaptability on the night will be the deciding factor.
Five All Blacks who could shape the Ellis Park Test
Rugby365 profiles the five All Blacks most likely to shape Saturday's Ellis Park Test — Love, Jordie Barrett, Moorby, Roigard and De Groot — weighing their threats against specific Springbok match-ups and the unknowns each brings into the fixture.