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Hansen: Boks still ahead, but Kriel is the key to closing the gap
Hansen acknowledges the Boks remain ahead but argues the series was decided by fine margins and self-inflicted All Blacks errors rather than outright superiority — and identifies beating Jesse Kriel's inside shoulder as the tactical fix New Zealand need before a likely World Cup quarter-final rematch.
Hamilton: World Cup draw is a 'tragedy' — and rugby's off-field chaos is squandering the Springboks-All Blacks golden era
Hamilton argues rugby's administration is failing to capitalise on the Springboks-All Blacks golden era — pointing to the Baltimore comms fiasco, a repeat World Cup draw blunder, and rights holders pulling viral content as evidence that the off-field operation is nowhere near matching what's happening on the pitch.
The 10 players who defined the RGR series
Louw ranks the 10 players who shaped the RGR series — Marx leads an analysis that spans Bok scrum dominance, Kolbe's relentless work rate, and a balanced look at the All Blacks' standouts, including a pointed aside on Roigard's legacy from the series.
Mains: All Blacks could have won three of four — and the aerial game cost them the series
Laurie Mains argues the 43-28 Baltimore result was misleading, believes the All Blacks were close enough to have won three of the first four Tests, and pins the series loss on a single tactical failure: not deploying aerial competitors under South Africa's high-ball game.
Eight lessons from Rugby's Greatest Rivalry — and why the All Blacks' problems run deeper than results
A sharp post-series breakdown arguing the Boks' veterans emphatically answered their critics, while dissecting the All Blacks' scrum crisis as both a personnel and coaching failure — with additional scrutiny on World Rugby's inconsistent officiating standards and the broader infrastructure around the series.
Afoa: Boks left a 4-0 sweep on the table
Afoa believes the Boks were clinical enough to go 4-0 in the RGR series, with the Ellis Park Test the one that got away.
Erasmus flags 'different challenge' as Boks touch down in Australia
Erasmus is treating the Perth Test as a genuine threat, not a lap of honour — flagging the Wallabies' form, a 'completely different challenge' tactically, and a punishing travel schedule that makes squad freshness the key variable heading into the one-off.
Ex-All Black: Boks could have swept 4-0 had South Africa not overplayed their hand in Joburg
New Zealand pundits dissect the 3-1 series loss, with Afoa arguing South Africa's overconfidence in the first Test handed the All Blacks a result they didn't deserve — and that a 4-0 thrashing was very much on the cards.
Five moments that defined the RGR series — from Nonu's haka response to Erasmus's F-bomb
A retrospective on the RGR series' five standout moments — the Lions' near-heist, Kolbe carrying Cape Town, the Boks' Baltimore masterclass, Erasmus's F-bomb press conference, and Nonu's unforgettable haka response.
Springbok forwards rated across the Greatest Rivalry series: Marx and Nche lead the way, hooker depth a concern
Marx and Nche are the standout performers in Planet Rugby's player-by-player breakdown, but the piece flags thin hooker cover behind Marx as a genuine Bok vulnerability — and revisits the series-long tension around the 6/2 bench split.
Rennie's All Blacks have identity — but do they have the fundamentals to back it up?
Rennie has given the All Blacks an attacking identity and genuine confidence with ball in hand — but the set-piece and aerial game remain unresolved problems that could undermine the whole project if left unchecked heading toward the World Cup.
Wallabies playmaker puzzle clouds a genuine shot at the Springboks
Kiss's decision to overlook Lolesio is the analytical core here, set against a genuine case that a rotated Springbok side in Perth is there to be beaten — with an added swipe at All Blacks referee complaints.
Cardiff revisited: Bok Women veterans hungry to rewrite 2018 history
Latsha, Gwala, Hele and Jacobs revisit the 2018 Cardiff loss — and make clear they believe the Bok Women are a different proposition this time around, with rankings, experience and confidence all pointing in the right direction.
Three World Rugby POTYs left out of Kitshoff and Nyakane's greatest rivalry XV
Kitshoff and Nyakane's combined Bok-All Black XV from Rugby's Greatest Rivalry omits three World Rugby POTYs — Marx is the only winner to make a nine-Bok, six-All Black side.
Backs ratings: Who starred, who struggled across the four-Test series
Planet Rugby rates all 11 Bok backs across the Greatest Rivalry series — van den Berg and Arendse top the charts, SFM gets a pointed 6, and both starting scrumhalves finish the tour with less standing than they started with.
RGR Report Card: Every Bok Rated Across the Four Tests
A player-by-player ratings breakdown of all 30 Boks across the RGR series, with Malcolm Marx the standout (9) and the fly-half position still a live debate — plus honest assessments of who rose and fell across four Tests.
Post-RGR, Erasmus has the breathing room to experiment — and plenty of reasons to use it
Rich argues the RGR win gives Erasmus the political capital to resume his rotation agenda, and maps the selection pressures — hooker depth, Pollard's place, Dixon's fitness, and potential squad gambles for the November Nations Championship leg — that will define the Boks' remainder of 2026.
Willemse: Boks built through the series — nothing came easy against the All Blacks
Willemse pushes back on any comfortable-win narrative, noting the series decider in Baltimore was a three-point game until the 65th minute, and that the Boks were genuinely poor in the opening Ellis Park loss. His read: the squad's real achievement was the improvement arc across four Tests, not the 3-1 scoreline.
RGR win buys Rassie the freedom to experiment — here's what comes next
The RGR series win — achieved with notably little rotation — has given Erasmus the freedom to experiment from Perth onwards. Rich maps the key selection questions: hooker depth, Pollard's flyhalf claim, Porthen at tighthead, and a crowded back three. He also argues the November away leg could see Erasmus take calculated risks with his squad given the pressure is now off.
Ex-Wallaby calls brake-foot law 'dangerous as hell' after Springboks scrum penalties sink All Blacks
Jeremy Paul argues World Rugby's brake-foot law is physically dangerous — not just over-officiated — and offers a hip-based framework for referees to simplify scrum policing, triggered by the penalties that hurt the All Blacks against the Springboks.