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AnalysisSpringboks

Danny Care takes aim at Janse van Rensburg's England call-up

Danny Care argues that clearing Janse van Rensburg to play for England — at the expense of Ojomoh and Lawrence — undermines what international selection should stand for, with the former Junior Bok's eligibility switch via residency drawing sharp scrutiny ahead of a World Cup cycle.

Planet Rugby
AnalysisGeneral

How a vague headline ignited a Champions Cup storm that wasn't really there

Brenden Nel argues the Champions Cup exit story was built on almost nothing — a paraphrased aside in one Afrikaans piece — and that SA Rugby's deep financial and structural investment in the EPCR makes any such exit illogical, while pointing out that the most vocal critics conveniently ignore the structural inequities within the competition itself.

SuperSport Rugby
AnalysisGeneral

Giteau Law debate flares as Mo'unga eligibility row divides All Black voices

Parsons draws a line between backing a Giteau Law and supporting a narrow eligibility carve-out for Mo'unga specifically — the distinction matters as NZ Rugby wrestles with whether their contracted fly-half can face the Springboks this August.

Planet Rugby
AnalysisBlitzboks

Jobb's hunger hasn't cooled after four straight titles

Sebastiaan Jobb reflects on a remarkable personal turnaround — from red-card misery and squad omissions to four consecutive titles — and makes clear the Blitzboks aren't treating the final two European legs as a lap of honour.

TimesLIVE Rugby
AnalysisProvincial

Sharks' youth injection is meaningless without a proper pre-season

JP Pietersen's late-season youth selections have given the Sharks something Plumtree never had — a viable pre-season nucleus not yet consumed by Bok duty. The piece argues the club must resist the Currie Cup temptation and protect that pre-season window to make the youth injection actually count.

SuperSport Rugby
AnalysisSpringboks

Contepomi wants to rewrite the Barbarians script against the Boks

Contepomi talks up the June 20 Baa-baas fixture as a genuine contest, not a lap of honour — he wants to reverse last year's 54-7 result and sees Erasmus's serious approach to the game as validation that his side should prepare accordingly.

Planet Rugby
AnalysisBlitzboks

Jobb's hunger still burning despite four consecutive titles

After being dropped for Dubai and Cape Town and carrying the baggage of two red cards, Sebastiaan Jobb overhauled his lifestyle and clawed his way into the Blitzboks' most successful squad in history — and he's not done yet.

SuperSport Rugby
AnalysisBlitzboks

Jobb's hunger drives Blitzboks into European finale

Jobb reflects on the mindset shifts and lifestyle changes that turned a frustrating Blitzboks career into four consecutive trophy lifts — and why he's not easing up heading into the European World Championship finale.

SuperSport Rugby
AnalysisSpringboks

Stormers stunned at Cardiff as Feinberg-Mgomezulu struggles and Welsh underdogs gate-crash the play-offs

Cardiff's fully-deserved win over the Stormers books their URC play-off spot, with Feinberg-Mgomezulu's error-filled night emblematic of a Stormers side who were outpaced and outworked throughout — and whose second-place seeding now hinges on Leinster's result.

Planet Rugby
AnalysisGeneral

Jake White: Henry's All Blacks return is a 'masterстroke' — and he's no ordinary selector

White calls Henry's return a masterstroke — not because of his selector credentials, but because of the psychological and cultural weight he brings to a rebuilding All Blacks camp. White also makes a pointed broader argument about the game's failure to learn from history, using his own 2007 World Cup experience as a case study.

Planet Rugby
AnalysisSpringboks

Du Toit backs England's young tightheads — but says patience is non-negotiable

Du Toit rates Fasogbon and Sela as future Test props but defends Borthwick's patience, explaining why tightheads need careful handling early in their careers — and still backs Stuart as England's best for years to come.

Planet Rugby
AnalysisSpringboks

Du Toit opens up on battling through rugby's toughest prop depth chart

Du Toit reflects on a stop-start Bok career he attributes to playing in South Africa's deepest-ever prop generation, and details how Erasmus's staff use targeted, low-frequency contact to keep overseas-based players aligned with Springbok systems.

Planet Rugby
AnalysisSpringboks

Du Toit: Scrummaging against Ox Nche in training is harder than Test rugby

Du Toit says Bok scrum training — going up against Nche, Steenekamp and Venter — is harder than Test rugby, and breaks down the technical and physical differences between loosehead and tighthead that explain why South Africa's scrum is built the way it is.

Planet Rugby
AnalysisSpringboks

TMOs are killing the game — and school rugby proves it

A sharp column using the disallowed Mahashe try as the centrepiece of a broader argument that TMOs have abandoned their 'clear and obvious' brief — applied forensic scrutiny to one try while waving through questionable scores elsewhere in the same game. Also covers New Zealand's overseas eligibility self-sabotage and the URC final-round permutations.

SuperSport Rugby
AnalysisSpringboks

TMO overreach is killing the game — and the Lions paid the price

The Mahashe disallowed try becomes a flashpoint for a wider argument that TMOs have abandoned the 'clear and obvious' mandate in favour of forensic overreach — with the Lions and the spectacle of the game paying the price. The column also takes aim at the All Blacks' overseas-player policy and previews the URC playoff picture.

SuperSport Rugby
AnalysisSpringboks

De Villiers and Burger expect Mo'unga 'injury' workaround as NZ Rugby holds firm

De Villiers and Burger expect a creative injury workaround to get Mo'unga into the All Blacks squad for the August-September Springbok series, with both slamming NZ Rugby's rigid eligibility stance as needlessly self-defeating.

Planet Rugby
AnalysisSpringboks

400 games, still proving himself: Why Willie le Roux deserves his flowers

As Le Roux hits 400 first-class appearances, Brenden Nel makes the overdue case for recognising a generational career that was built the hard way — and argues the South African public still hasn't given him his proper due.

SuperSport Rugby
AnalysisSpringboks

400 games and still proving doubters wrong — the Willie le Roux story deserves more respect

Nel profiles Willie le Roux on the eve of his 400th first-class game, arguing that a career built on club rugby grit, self-funded academy fees, and a chip-on-the-shoulder mentality deserves far greater recognition than it typically receives. Le Roux's own quotes — on still feeling like he has to prove himself at 101 caps — are the centrepiece.

SuperSport Rugby
AnalysisJunior Boks

Junior Boks take World Cup confidence from NZ dogfight

Foote and Norton reflect on what a grinding draw against New Zealand reveals about where the Junior Boks are — and what still needs fixing — ahead of their World Cup title defence in Georgia.

TimesLIVE Rugby
AnalysisProvincial

Croc-rolls are back — and the URC needs to act decisively

Two croc-roll red cards in one weekend — including the nasty Henderson-on-Fourie incident — have the author calling for the URC to come down hard and make an example, arguing the 'unintentional' defence doesn't hold and that consistent sanctions are the only way to coach the move out of the game permanently.

SuperSport Rugby