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Kolisi and Pollard return as Rassie revamps Boks for second All Blacks Test
Kolisi and Pollard are back in the Springbok team for the second Test against the All Blacks, with Erasmus ringing the changes.
Ex-All Black backs Carley's Savea call — and explains why it was the 'double whammy' that ended South Africa
Strachan walks through the law behind Carley's correct Savea no-card ruling, breaks down how the subsequent double yellow effectively ended the contest, and assesses the scrum battle and All Blacks' composure as the defining threads of the first Test.
Rassie's right — the RGR series is far from over, but the Boks conspired against themselves at Ellis Park
Rich argues the Ellis Park loss was partly self-inflicted — tactical scrum errors, a lost referee-influence battle against Rennie, and Bok inconsistency — but maintains the series is still the Boks' to win, with the All Blacks' resilience unlikely to hold across three weeks.
D-Mac rates Ellis Park win over Boks among his All Blacks career highlights
McKenzie rates the Ellis Park result among his career bests but warns the All Blacks expect a wounded Springbok side to come out swinging in Cape Town, with the series very much alive across four Tests.
Mallett criticises Springbok halfbacks after All Blacks defeat at Ellis Park
Former Springbok coach Nick Mallett has identified Grant Williams and Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu as the key reasons behind South Africa's 33-16 defeat to New Zealand in Johannesburg. Mallett singled out the halfback pairing for their inability to capitalise on numerous attacking opportunities, rating both players four out of ten for their performance.
Mallett puts Ellis Park collapse on Williams and Feinberg-Mngomezulu
Mallett pins the Ellis Park defeat squarely on Williams and Feinberg-Mngomezulu, citing chronic indecision and poor communication as the reason the Boks' territorial dominance produced almost nothing — and argues Erasmus faces a genuine halfback selection call ahead of Cape Town.
The sun rose on Sunday — but Rennie may have already won a battle Rassie hasn't fought yet
Gavin Rich argues the Ellis Park loss is survivable but flags a more pressing concern: Rennie may have already won the referee-influence battle that Rassie pioneered in 2019 and 2021 — and the SA media's disorganised press-conference performance suggests Rassie is fighting that battle without backup.
Ellis Park autopsy: Bok self-destruction hands All Blacks a gift
The Ellis Park defeat is dissected as a failure of Bok execution rather than All Black dominance — the red-zone wastefulness, the over-reliance on a scrum they couldn't convert into points, and key individuals failing to show up are identified as the core problems the Boks must fix across the next three Tests.
Boks' Cape Town response will define where Erasmus's camp really stands
Nel dissects the Ellis Park loss — poor execution, a rattling 55th-minute penalty, and a selection experiment that backfired — and argues that the Cape Town response will be the clearest signal yet of where the Erasmus era actually stands.
Rennie warns All Blacks not to get carried away — and expects Boks to come back harder in Cape Town
Rennie urges the All Blacks not to get carried away after Ellis Park, anticipates a Bok backlash in Cape Town, and expects Erasmus to double down rather than reshape. Mo'unga's return for the midweek Lions game also puts the 10 jersey under fresh scrutiny ahead of the second Test.
Rassie's rotation gamble cost the Boks in Johannesburg — but the catch-22 gets harder in Cape Town
Rich argues the Ellis Park loss was primarily a function of Rassie's rotation policy leaving the Boks short on cohesion — not a sign that the All Blacks outplayed them. The real catch-22 is whether Erasmus sticks with the team that physically dominated but lost, or rotates as planned and risks going 0-2.
Rennie expects Bok backlash — and Mo'unga's return adds intrigue to Cape Town test
Rennie warns against complacency after Ellis Park, expects a hardened Bok response in Cape Town, and hints Mo'unga could feature off the bench in the second test after a standout return against the Lions.
Rassie's rotation gamble cost the Boks in Johannesburg — but the catch-22 gets worse before Cape Town
Rich argues the Ellis Park loss was primarily a consequence of Erasmus's rotation policy leaving the Boks short on cohesion — not a reflection of forward dominance lost — and unpacks the genuine selection dilemma Erasmus now faces for Cape Town: stick with a team that's finally gelled, or honour the depth plan for a potentially decisive Soccer City finale.
Louw backs Boks to recover from Ellis Park defeat despite clinical failings
Tighthead prop Wilco Louw remained confident the Springboks can still claim the four-match series against New Zealand despite their 16-33 defeat at Ellis Park. Louw, whose scrum dominated for 55 minutes, acknowledged the All Blacks' clinical edge but insisted the Boks have the belief to improve.
Louw: Scrum pressure means nothing without points on the board
Louw flags that the Boks' scrum dominance in the first Test is a platform, not a result — the focus now is converting that pressure into points in Cape Town.
Louw backs Boks to recover as Erasmus details cascade of disruption in Ellis Park defeat
Wilco Louw believes the Springboks can still win the series despite the 16-33 loss to New Zealand at Ellis Park, where the SA scrum was dominant for 55 minutes. Rassie Erasmus detailed how Kurt-Lee Arendse's early injury triggered a positional cascade that undermined his game plan, while Jesse Kriel attributed the defeat primarily to New Zealand's clinical finishing.
Kolisi set to return for Cape Town Test as Erasmus delivers blunt Ellis Park verdict
Siya Kolisi is set to return for the Cape Town Test next Saturday, with Rassie Erasmus delivering a candid post-mortem on the Ellis Park defeat — citing the All Blacks' red-zone defensive tactics as something the Boks were not equipped to handle.
Mallett makes the case for Morné at nine against the All Blacks
Mallett argues Morné van den Berg is underrated and makes the case for a halfback pairing that can convert Springbok forward dominance into wins against the All Blacks in Cape Town.
Ex-All Black defends Carley's Savea call — and explains why it was the match's turning point
Ant Strachan argues Matthew Carley's decision not to card Savea was correct by law — and that the 'double whammy' swing (Savea reprieved, Van Staden and Reinach binned in quick succession) was the moment the match was decided, with 15 vs 13 ending any realistic Bok comeback.
Dominant on paper, beaten by 17: the breakdown mechanics that cost the Boks
South Africa won the penalties, territory and scrum at Ellis Park and lost by 17. This forensic breakdown explains how — through a 78% defensive completion rate, 23 turnovers, 4.4-second ruck speed that handed New Zealand's strip tactic its ideal conditions, and a cluster of critical errors in the final quarter — and what needs to change mechanically before Cape Town.