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Andrews tips Greatest Rivalry series to end level
Andrews tips the four-Test Bok-All Blacks series to finish all square — the piece explores his reasoning.
NZ media bullish on All Blacks' Test readiness after Bulls rout — Ioane and Barrett forcing their way back into the frame
NZ rugby media read the Bulls win as a genuine mentality shift ahead of Ellis Park, with Paul highlighting the scrum and Segner as key Test positives, and Knowler making the case for Ioane and Barrett to force their way back onto the bench.
Marx linked with Bulls return as Ackermann reunion looms
The Bulls have held preliminary discussions with Malcolm Marx about a return to South African rugby, with the Springbok hooker currently playing for Kubota Spears in Japan.
Fleck backs Libbok to start at 10 against the All Blacks
Robbie Fleck makes the case for Libbok at flyhalf for Saturday's Test against the All Blacks.
Ackermann: All Blacks' attacking-from-deep won't fly against the Boks
Ackermann flags that the All Blacks' habit of attacking from deep — profitable on the franchise tour — will be exploited rather than tolerated by the Springboks, and points to patience with ball in hand as the tactical lever that decides the series opener.
Taylor confident All Blacks have built the mental resilience to handle Bok pressure
Taylor flags the Bulls match as proof the All Blacks are learning to 'nail moments' under pressure — exactly the currency the Springboks will demand next weekend. His forward pack assessment is measured but optimistic ahead of the series opener.
Coetzee savours try against All Blacks despite heavy Bulls defeat at Loftus
Bulls captain Marcell Coetzee scored against the All Blacks at Loftus on Saturday — his first appearance against New Zealand since 2014 — describing the moment as one for the memory bank despite the Bulls' 19-50 defeat.
1996 revisited: How the All Blacks capitalised while the Boks imploded
Borchardt revisits 1996 and argues the All Blacks' historic series win in South Africa was as much a product of Springbok internal chaos as New Zealand's ruthless focus — a cautionary tale worth revisiting.
All Blacks wingers shine in Loftus rout as Bulls ship fifty ahead of Springboks series
New Zealand ran in eight tries to defeat the Vodacom Bulls 50-19 at Loftus Versfeld, completing their warm-up fixtures unbeaten. Leroy Carter's hat-trick and Rieko Ioane's all-round display headlined a clinical performance, while the All Blacks scrum delivered its most complete showing of the tour. Bulls captain Marcell Coetzee acknowledged the gulf in class, though the home side rallied with three second-half scores after trailing 24-0 at the interval.
All Blacks arrive in Johannesburg sharp, healthy and dangerous
A strong All Blacks warm-up performance at Loftus — 50 points, three halves without conceding — has the author framing the Greatest Rivalry opener as genuinely wide open, with Rennie's side looking sharp, healthy and tactically coherent against a Bok team riding a 12-game winning streak.
All Blacks complete clean sweep of SA franchises with 50-19 demolition of Bulls at Loftus
The All Blacks beat the Bulls 50-19 at Loftus to complete an unbeaten pre-Test tour of South Africa, having also defeated the Stormers and Sharks, ahead of next Saturday's first Test at Ellis Park.
Rennie warns the Boks will be 'fivefold' the test as All Blacks eye Test series
Rennie flags a massive step-up ahead, warning the Boks will be 'fivefold' more intense than anything the All Blacks have faced on tour. The piece weighs what was genuinely learned — scrum improvement, altitude acclimatisation, attacking fluency — against the obvious caveat that all three franchise wins came against heavily depleted opposition.
Rennie warns All Blacks must lift several gears for Ellis Park Test
Rennie is happy with three tour wins but draws a sharp line between provincial opposition and Bok intensity — his post-Bulls message was that his side needs to lift 'three, four, five-fold' for Ellis Park.
Ackermann tips patient Springboks to exploit All Black risks
Bulls coach Johan Ackermann believes the Springboks will pose a far greater challenge to New Zealand than his side managed at Loftus Versfeld, where the All Blacks ran in a 50-19 victory. Ackermann suggested the visitors may struggle to execute the same ambitious plays from deep when facing a match-fit world champion side at Ellis Park.
Ackermann: All Blacks' deep-half gambles won't fly against the Boks
Ackermann warns the All Blacks that the scoreboard cushion which let them play cavalier rugby from their own half won't be available against the Springboks — and he sees patient ball-in-hand play as the key weapon for the Boks at Ellis Park.
Kronfeld senses 'something growing' under Rennie ahead of Bok tour
Kronfeld says the All Blacks finally look like they're building something coherent under Rennie after years of confused rugby, but openly admits the Springbok tour is a genuine unknown — and that collective buy-in will be the deciding factor.
Etzebeth tops Planet Rugby's global lock rankings — Nortjé and Snyman also feature
Etzebeth leads Planet Rugby's global lock rankings, with Nortjé and Snyman also featuring — the list doubles as a useful World Cup form guide for Bok second-row depth.
Rennie: Bulls win was 'almost like training for the Springboks'
Rennie was satisfied with the All Blacks' controlled performance against the Bulls but openly acknowledged the step up required for next week's first Test — wholesale changes coming, Roigard and Jordan back, McKenzie uncertain.
Greatest Rivalry tour put profit before fans — and it showed
Keohane argues the Greatest Rivalry tour was a cash grab that got ticket pricing wrong and should never have taken the Test series offshore — fans paid the price for both calls.
How New Zealand's voluntary exclusion of Māori players amounted to self-imposed apartheid
Jamie Wall argues that New Zealand voluntarily excluded Māori players from South Africa tours decades before apartheid was formalised, and that the backlash over the 1976 series did not shift New Zealand public opinion as much as liberal commentators assumed.