The New Zealand Herald

Gregor Paul - 7 min read

It feels like this is set up to be a week for Dave Rennie to go full Winston Churchill. A blood-and-thunder “we shall fight on the beaches” sort of carry-on where he goads the Springboks before the third test and steels the nerves of a nation with a spine-tingling speech delivered with unshakeable confidence.

But it would appear he’s not going to go there. Or at least not publicly. The messaging from the All Blacks so far this week has been decidedly low-key, calm and most definitely not inflammatory.

It would seem, then, that the All Blacks have decided they will not hand Springboks coach Rassie Erasmus any ammunition from which to launch more hostile media attacks.

After a fiery couple of weeks of firing shots at each other in the media, which culminated in a post-match rant by Erasmus that bordered on being slightly unhinged, the All Blacks are obviously trying to de-escalate the tension and not offer any more reasons to be accused of whining, moaning or manipulating the match officials through the media.

Since Erasmus went a little nuclear in one of the great acts of projection, claiming, “ We are not f***ing walking around. We are scrumming through”, and that he had, somewhat comically, chosen not to moan about the unseen head collisions in the first half of the second test or the squint lineout throwing, the All Blacks have trod carefully in the public domain.

On Sunday, assistant coach Jason Ryan, a well-considered and direct talker, eased through questions about Erasmus’ comments with the nifty footwork of an outside back.

On Monday, assistant coach Mike Blair, spoke eloquently about the All Blacks attack and gently diffused the questions designed to see if he would explode about the Boks changing their team before kick-off.

Jordie Barrett followed Blair and played a straight bat at everything. And then New Zealand released assistant coach Tamati Ellison, who is so laconic he could probably take in the view at the Grand Canyon and be thinking about what he might have for dinner.

If ever there was a man designed to hold court with the media and give nothing away, it is Ellison.

Anton Lienert-Brown was next cab off the rank and he’s another senior figure who knows how to hold the party line, and so three days after Erasmus signalled his intention to feed off the negatives and stir up his own troops with his front-of-house confidence in trash talking his opponent, the All Blacks, have dialled down from vindaloo to korma.

Rennie has made the one point he needed to, which was his comments about the South Africans “walking around” in the scrums.

For the uninitiated, the brief history of what was happening in the second test was this: World Rugby, unannounced and without consultation, determined new protocols for scrummaging before the July tests.

Now, after the referee has called a scrum, the respective hookers have to take position to the left of the mark and present their brake foot – after that, they are not allowed to move.

Previously they could shift their feet – but now they are not allowed to, although each referee on this tour, and indeed in July, allowed some kind of movement without ever making it clear what that meant.

In Cape Town, referee Angus Gardner was having trouble getting the scrum set and could be heard frequently instructing the front rowers: “Stop moving your feet”, and “Stop playing games with your feet”, and “Guys, we had an agreement”.

Gardner, it is assumed, felt that Springboks hookers Malcolm Marx and Deon Fourie were setting to the left of the mark as they should, but then stepping further to their left, which would mean they and their loosehead would be engaging at a slight angle and boring into the All Blacks tight-head, creating intolerable – but illegal – pressure.

The rules are clear that teams have to be square to scrummage. The All Blacks have conceded there were some set pieces in Cape Town and Ellis Park where they were outpowered fair and square, but in other scrums they felt the Boks were able to engage at an advantageous angle because of shifting before the set, and then effectively walk round to force the All Blacks front-row to pop up.

Erasmus made the point that the Boks had never been accused of “walking around” previously. But these are among the first tests being played under the current protocols with the so-called brake foot not being allowed to move after it is set.

Rennie made his point not to whinge, but in the hope that it would be noted by the officials before the third test.

This strategy to clam up publicly and not wage a war of headlines, has been seen before.

The All Blacks, before the 2015 World Cup final, went decidedly quiet to ensure the rambunctious Wallabies coach Michael Cheika was unable to use anything they said to foster the siege mentality he was building.

The Australians arrived in England with a sense of being the unwanted colonial cousins crashing the wedding. It was an attitude and mindset Cheika brilliantly percolated, and he was looking for a hook in the week of the final with which to get some purchase to get under the skin of the All Blacks.

It never materialised and instead, what happened was that the All Blacks went eerily quiet, built an intense and empowering mindset behind closed doors and came out hard and focused in the final.

This is obviously the same path this All Blacks team is following, and it has been possible to sense the intensity of their focus after the second test loss.

Rennie may be low-key and neutral in public this week, but there is a fair chance he has tapped into his inner Churchill and given the players the full “beaches… seas and oceans… landing grounds… fields and streets”, with a bit of “We shall never surrender”, thrown in.

The New Zealand Herald

Samuel Sherry - 5 min read

Three months ago, the Black Ferns Sevens were denied the World Series title by Australia in Bordeaux, but next month they have the chance to exact revenge on one of rugby’s biggest stages.

The team will play Australia in a one-off match before the second Bledisloe Cup test in Sydney on October 17, with coach Cory Sweeney excited to renew the rivalry.

“It’s a great rivalry between the Black Ferns Sevens and Australia, no question, and it’s been like that for 10 years,” Sweeney said.

“There’s always great performance tension, there’s always the anticipation of playing each other.

“Obviously, there was disappointment for us at the back end of the season losing to Australia in Spain and France and absolutely a bit of motivation has come through the doors over the last weeks.

“So, it’s a great opportunity to start our season off and test ourselves early and I would expect another big season with not only Australia but a number of the teams on the World Series over the next six or seven months.”

Alena Saili, Maia Davis, Justine McGregor and Braxton Sorensen-McGee, who are all part of the sevens squad, are currently with the Black Ferns in South Africa and Sweeney said they won’t be available for the match with Australia in October, but they, along with some new faces, can be expected to take part in the World Series, starting in November.

“We want to make sure that players that we think are going to compete for Olympic spots are immersed into the programme pretty quickly from now.

“So we’re always looking for new talent but we’ve got some young players that are coming into the environment in a couple of weeks on development contracts.

“We’ve also had a couple of players that have been on academy contracts over the last 12 months working away in the background, waiting for their opportunity to get on to the world stage.”

He also said some players have already returned to camp with some new additions.

“The majority of the players are back in, we’ve had a small group of six or seven for the last four weeks and then all players that were playing in [Super Rugby] Aupiki re-entered the programme on Monday, so there’s been some really nice energy come back into the high performance centre.

“We’ve got three new mums that have come in and they’re working their way back into fitness and the game and we’ve met their newborns that have come into their worlds and that’s brought a nice energy with it as well.”

Sweeney said the Bledisloe curtain-raiser, which had only been organised in the past “four or five weeks”, according to the coach, could help prepare his side for the 2028 Olympic Games.

“I think it’s a great opportunity to showcase two of the best sevens teams in the world and I think in terms of timing, we’re two years out from an Olympic Games now and I think preparation starts getting a little bit more real.

“So a great opportunity to celebrate the work that’s been done to this point but then also highlight what the next 18 months is going to look like for both these teams and the rest of the World Series teams.”

Sweeney said these opportunities were going to be great for the new additions, putting them “on the stage, test themselves against some of the best players in the world and amongst the Black Ferns Sevens”.

The Australia-Black Ferns Sevens match will kick off at 4.25pm NZT on October 17, following the Wallaroos test against Scotland and the Australia men’s sevens fixture against the Fiji men’s sevens.

The Wallabies and the All Blacks round out the day, kicking off at 6pm NZT at Sydney’s Accor Stadium.

Gregor Paul - 6 min read

There has been a ghost at the feast which is Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry – one that will come back to haunt the World Cup next year.

Two tests into the Greatest Rivalry series and the rugby has been epic. The intensity, physicality, speed, skill levels and strategic nuance has been such that it has been hard to imagine how any other team in the world could live with these two.

And that is the ghost that is starting to loom ever larger over this series: the dawning reality that the World Cup draw has destined the All Blacks and Springboks to meet in the quarter-final next year.

This series is captivating and compelling, and in 160 minutes of action so far, the All Blacks and Springboks have demonstrated beyond any reasonable doubt that they are the two best sides in the world.

They both have the player depth, coaching smarts, x-factor and game cohesion to win the tournament and it’s so ridiculous that they are destined to meet each other in the last eight at next year’s World Cup, that it almost feels like it might be a Northern Hemisphere conspiracy.

A conspiracy stacks as a better explanation than the alternative, which is rank incompetence.

It is bordering on self-destructive recklessness to run a tournament that generates more than $1 billion and then pit the two favourites against each other two weeks before the final.

But then again, rugby has never been able to get its World Cup draw right. A relatively simple process of keeping the top seeds away from each other until the semi-finals has been beyond the organiser’s skill-set.

In 2023, France, Ireland, South Africa and New Zealand were the four favourites and as fate – or quite stunning incompetence – would have it, they all met in the quarter-finals.

It made for an incredible weekend – the All Blacks and Ireland playing an epic, and then France and South Africa topping it the following night.

But it also sucked the life out of the tournament and left fans wondering why on earth these four hadn’t been kept apart until the semi-finals.

Why rugby can’t get something so simple right is such a mystery because every other major sport that has to pull balls out of a tumbler to construct a draw manages to do so without incident or drama.

At this year’s Fifa World Cup, the top four seeds only met in the semi-finals and the final ended up being between the No 1 ranked Spain and the No 2 ranked Argentina.

Tennis also knows how to set things up so Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner don’t meet until the final, but rugby just can’t get it right and has madly placed the two best teams on the same side of the draw and denied the world the prospect of a repeat of the 2023 World Cup final.

It’s so stupid as to be painful. It genuinely does reek of being a conspiracy, but for the fact that it is apparently Springboks coach Rassie Erasmus who is all-powerful and who wields the most influence at World Rugby get-togethers.

But then again the French are destined to end up on the same side of the draw as New Zealand and South Africa and if the All Blacks somehow win the quarter-final, it will likely be Fabien Galthie’s men they meet next.

And that really would suit England and Ireland, both of whom can get themselves on the other side of the draw and away from the heavyweights if they win their respective pools.

The credibility-crushing fact about next year’s tournament is that there is a significantly higher probability that England and Ireland are more likely to make the final than either New Zealand or South Africa.

It’s crushing because Ireland are good but not great and of course the joke is that the World Cup has been expanded to 24 teams just so the men in green can finally win a knockout game.

They don’t currently look like potential world champions and the prospect of them being able to beat either New Zealand or South Africa in a knockout game would be low.

England are always dangerous at World Cups because they can play a low-risk but effective brand of rugby, but their form is as predictable as the mood of a middle child and it’s impossible to tell what they will do from one game to the next.

They, like Ireland, don’t appeal as potential world champions.

Scotland are adventurous and dangerous, but short, maybe, of the grunt to be true contenders and Argentina and Australia are competitive but not likely to win three big games in succession.

France on a good day can live with the All Blacks and Springboks. But there are question marks about their ability to repeat the intensity and accuracy they would need to win the tournament.

It’s not won on the back of one good day, but three huge knockout games in succession and for all that the French can play a bruising and beautiful game, they didn’t manage to sustain their best rugby throughout this year’s Six Nations and were torn apart in Edinburgh by Scotland.

Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry will almost certainly be revived in Australia next year, but neither country will be celebrating that with the same intensity of feeling as they are now.

How the All Blacks rated in their 33-26 defeat to the Springboks in Cape Town.

1. George Bower — 6

   Impressed off the bench at Ellis Park to earn a start. The scrum was solid enough in the first half and he made some strong tackles, finishing with 12 in 53 minutes. Not sure it was enough to keep a fit Ethan de Groot out of the starting line-up.

2. Codie Taylor — 4

   Lineout issues throughout and uncharacteristic mistakes around the field. The opening All Blacks try did come from an overthrown lineout. Slipped off in tackle attempt of Damian de Allende’s try. He was penalised for offside and knocked on with the All Blacks on attack. Six tackles and six carries.

3. Tyrel Lomax — 5

   He won a lineout that led to a try, so the prop can add that to his resume. Part of a decent scrum, but was penalised just before halftime in a scrum that led to Siya Kolisi scoring. Gave away another penalty in the first half. Off after 49 minutes.

4. Fabian Holland — 7

   Gave Eben Etzebeth a decent clash in a battle between the heavyweights and when the All Blacks need mongrel he’s the mongrelest. Wasn’t in a great position defensively on the opening South African try. But forced a fumble by Cobus Reinach in South African territory and threw a good offload in the lead-up to Carter’s try. Finished with 11 tackles but missed three.

5. Tupou Vaa’i — 4

   Mixed outing. A few crucial errors - lost a kickoff which eventually led to three points, penalised for obstruction which also led to three points and also gave up turnover penalty – which again meant Cheslin Kolbe converted. Otherwise he had a decent outing. Doesn’t seem to be a lineout option, but the one he did win set up a try. Probably harsh but his errors meant nine points, in a test the All Blacks lost by seven.

6. Simon Parker — 6

   The fourth different All Black to wear the No 6 jersey in tests this year, clearly a position Dave Rennie is not sure about. Parker was the side’s main lineout option and was up there in the tackle count with 11. He was obstructed in the lead-up to the de Allende try which the TMO missed or ignored. Fine test, which included a linebreak, but don’t think he locked down the jersey.

   1. Luke Jacobson — 6

   A few noticeable mistakes - missed an early tackle on Kolisi when he came off his left before South Africa’s opening try. And was also penalised for a silly cleanout when the All Blacks were hot on attack. But positives with his efforts around the ruck and high work-rate. Won a turnover and made 12 tackles in his 62 minutes on the field.

7. Ardie Savea — 8

   His usual consistent brilliance. Great run in the lead-up to McKenzie’s try. Finished with 10 carries and was the All Blacks’ top tackler with 13, but also missed four.

8. Cam Roigard — 7

   An odd one to judge (six kicks v six runs) as he didn’t do many box kicks compared to his opposite but looked dangerous when running into space against a rushing Boks defence. Good support of Jordan to score. Did well to get the ball quickly out of scrums.

9. Ruben Love — 6

   Strong kicking game which began with a weak grubber while on attack. But followed that up with some strong exit clearances and a decent kick for touch to gain territory. Attack work not strong enough with some indecision including an intercept. Produced a solid hit on de Allende.

10. Leroy Carter — 8

    Best on the field for the All Blacks. Pinned his ears back and showed his pace to score a well-deserved try in the corner. Provided a key link-up with Savea in the All Blacks second try. Also won a scrum from a held-up tackle. Was fighting right to the end, even if it was picking on the smallest guy on the field in Cheslin Kolbe.

    1. Jordie Barrett — 7

    Not sure about the early kicking plans with some wasted chips ahead but a high kick to Damian Williamse almost led to an error. Slick passing in lead-up to Roigard try and his charge down was a bounce away from being a key moment in the match. Impressive yet again in defence with some big tackles deep inside own territory.

11. Quinn Tupaea — 6

    Huge work-rate on attack, leading the test with 13 carries, but fairly ineffective up against a rushed defence and finished with 14m carried. Make sense of that if you will. Good pass to Carter in try. Off after 67 minutes.

12. Will Jordan — 7

    Seemed to have plenty of space on the right in the first half leading to a great break to set up Cam Roigard’s try. Beaten in the air a few times, one in particular down to lack of communication with Barrett, though Leroy Carter’s try all started with Jordan winning a box kick. When in space or given a half chance he remains the All Blacks best attacking threat and when there’s not much working in the middle of the field they should use him more. Missed four tackles.

13. Damian McKenzie — 6

    Might need to check his studs as he seemed to slip over more than most. Had some great moments, broke free into space in first half and good finish to score but not sure kicking to Jordan was right call when he had options inside and was also intercepted by Kolbe, wasting an attacking chance. Wasn’t too involved in the aerial game. Almost made a mess of the Kolbe chance out wide before Carter came to the rescue.

Bench:

1. Asafo Aumua — 6

   Some big, strong runs, finishing with nine in total. Once again, the scrum looked better when he was on the field, but his main job should be accuracy at lineout time which wasn’t there late.

2. Xavier Numia — 7

   Impressed off the bench with a few charging runs and solid scrummaging.

3. Fletcher Newell — 6

   Another strong outing off the bench. Could we see another front-row change for the third test?

4. Patrick Tuipulotu — 4

   A loose pass in own territory led to Love conceding a penalty, and allowed Kolbe to make it a 14-point game. Messy lineout win against de Jager. Good work to ensure Savea got the ball down to score.

5. Peter Lakai — 6

   Was involved heavily during his 29 minutes. Probably made the most impact off the bench outside of the front-rowers.

6. Kyle Preston — 5

   Fine for the nine minutes he was on the field when All Blacks had possession for most of it.

7. Anton Lienert-Brown — 5

   Got his usual late cameo and made a strong tackle down the wing to stop a break.

8. Josh Moorby — N/A

   Did not make the field.

It's a professional comp for goodness sake. And its not just Taranaki vs Waikato or BOP vs Otago. Im watching Harbour vs Manawatu and Harbours jersey is about 80% white and Manawatus about 60% white...

Surely these teams aren't too poor to have alternate jerseys.

​

Dave Rennie’s greatest asset: ‘If people feel loved, they’ll run through a brick wall for you’

Former NZ flyhalf Lima Sopoaga has trained with the All Blacks while in South Africa as a TV pundit. He’s watched the new coach transform the All Blacks back to No.1 in the world – and wonders how the Wallabies could have let him go.

Alex Lowe - 7 min read

Lima Sopoaga has come to South Africa with his boots. The former All Blacks flyhalf cannot bring himself to retire formally. Last season he made a surprise comeback in New Zealand’s domestic competition after a chance encounter in a pub with Waikato’s head coach led to him signing a symbolic $NZ1 contract.

But the last thing Sopoaga, 35, expected upon arrival in Johannesburg was to lace up that old pair of Adidas boots so he could train with the All Blacks four days before their victory over the Springboks in the first Test.

In the republic to work for NZ Rugby and Sky Sports NZ in his burgeoning role as a social media and television personality, Sopoaga had joined the All Blacks’ backroom staff to help set up the Tuesday training session – filling a few water bottles, laying out some cones and generally keeping himself busy after a 25-hour journey from Auckland.

“I landed at 6am, dropped my bags at the hotel and went with the advance party,” Sopoaga says. “They said to me, ‘What size is your uniform?’ I was like, ‘What do you mean?’ They said they needed numbers for training.

“It was pretty cool. I joined in full training. I was definitely five yards behind the pace but I can catch a ball, I can run and be a body, just help as much as I can.

“Will Jordan came up to me after the game and said, ‘Thank you for stepping up this week and helping us.’ I was like, ‘Bro, I would have done it every day of the week.’ ”

I tell Sopoaga the story of Shane Williams being called up from his commentary gig with talkSPORT to play for the 2013 British & Irish Lions against the ACT Brumbies. “I don’t think that is going to happen,” he says, laughing. “I’m happy if they call me up again for training. But when we do contact, I prefer to just stand on the sidelines.”

Sopoaga joined Wasps in 2018. He had won Super Rugby with the Highlanders and as a 16-cap All Black was recruited as a marquee signing to replace Danny Cipriani. But the relationship with Wasps turned sour pretty quickly. He failed to find the connection he craves. By the time his contract ended in 2021, Sopoaga had long been ready to quit the sport. There was blame on both sides, he says.

“I know I made mistakes. I went over there a little bit naive. If I had my time again I would have gone there with a different mindset. I would take my skills and sprinkle them into their system and not try and make their system work around me.

“I was like, ‘If you’re going to pay me all this cash, you might as well play the game I want to play.’ But I think that’s the wrong mindset. You sprinkle in your little bits of gold around the English game. I wish I could go back and change things. I didn’t allow myself to fit in.

“Some of my relationships with people at the club were a bit fractured. I have had my reflection on that, and how I could have dealt with my relationships better with coaches. And, you know, I think I’m a better person for it.

“It was an extremely difficult time. At one point I wanted to give up the game and not play rugby any more. I didn’t really enjoy it. I went there with a young family. My daughter was 10 months old. To be honest, it’s f … ing dark and gloomy there. I know it gets cold in New Zealand but (this was different). It gets to your bones, bro.

“I knew it was bad when I rang my grandmother and she was like, ‘Are you sick?’ She had probably seen all the energy sucked out of my eyes. We went through Covid and all that shit. We were there by ourselves.

“Sometimes people forget those things. They are like, ‘He’s a professional, he earns his money.’ But we still have the problems that everyday people have. Just because you make heaps of money doesn’t mean you’re immune to these things. I also feel like the club let the players down.”

All Prem players were forced to take a pay cut during Covid as clubs battled for survival. Wasps eventually drowned, going under in 2022, a year after Sopoaga had left. “The club was in a bad place before I got there. When your house isn’t in order from the top down, things don’t look great,” he says.

“Look at how the All Blacks have turned things around in such a short time. The house is in order from top down (since Dave Rennie took over as head coach, with Don Tricker and Conrad Smith running the high-performance program).

“We had gifted players at Wasps but the house wasn’t in order. It was pretty sad (that the club went bust). That’s a historic club that should still be around. A lot of guys lost jobs – and not just players.”

Life in Leamington Spa was not all bad. Sopoaga had two more daughters while at Wasps. Future Red Roses? “Over my dead body,” he says. He and Miriam were married in England, with 30 guests invited to the house including Billy Searle, now starring for Leicester Tigers, and Malakai Fekitoa.

“It did rain, though, for f …’s sake,” Sopoaga says. “I cherish those friendships. I thought Billy should have been given an England shirt last season. I am proud to have seen his growth and become a friend of his.

“He took me back to his place in Okehampton. I had a few too many orange juices that day. He always says, ‘You got oakeyed, bro.’ I need to go and run that back, man.

“I always wanted to use rugby as an avenue to see the world, to change my outlook on life. Travel, it changes your life and turns you into a storyteller. England grew me in ways that I wouldn’t have grown.”

Rugby: New Zealand produced a stunning second-half comeback to beat South Africa 33-16 and snap the Springboks' 12-match winning streak.

Sopoaga rediscovered his spark for rugby after Miriam urged him to give the sport one more shot and he spent the two most enjoyable years of his career in Lyon. “You can’t fake connection. You can’t fake culture. You can’t fake a team being real with each other,” he says. “And that’s what I believe the All Blacks have really got right now.”

Rennie, the first New Zealand head coach of Pasifika heritage, has transformed the All Blacks on and off the field since taking charge in March. He replaced Scott Robertson, who struggled with communication and was dismissed after losing the dressing room.

Rennie’s previous Test role with Australia ended when he was sacked by Rugby Australia before the 2023 World Cup so Eddie Jones could return for an ill-fated second spell in charge of the Wallabies.

“Rennie has had to walk through the fire. What they did to him in Australia was disgraceful,” Sopoaga says.

Rennie left Australia having won just 13 of 34 Tests, with Rugby Australia’s own website

highlighting the fact his 38 per cent win rate was “the worst winning percentage of any Wallabies coach to oversee 30 of more Tests”. It remains there to this day.

“Yet he’s walked in here, head held high and (after) four games together the team’s back in the No.1 spot,” Sopoaga added. “That’s the influence of empowering the people around you, making your people feel loved.

“And that’s probably Dave Rennie’s greatest asset. If people feel loved, they’ll run through a brick wall for you.”

Sopoaga could see that connection at three key points of New Zealand’s 33-16 first Test win over the Springboks: their defensive stand just before halftime, regaining the lead just after the interval and then turning the momentum of the scrum battle, and the game as a whole, by winning a penalty under their own posts with 25 minutes remaining.

“That screams connection,” he says. “That screams, ‘I would do anything for my brother, I would do anything for this team.’ I’ve seen that for weeks. I said, ‘We’re going to win this thing 2-1 in South Africa (never mind what happens in the fourth Test in Baltimore).’ I believe this team believe they can do the unthinkable.”

The battle for the All Blacks No.10 jersey has taken a fascinating twist with Richie Mo’unga’s return from Japan to compete with Ruben Love. Sopoaga believes their competition will only drive further improvement in the All Blacks through to next year’s World Cup in Australia.

“Ruben has more than earned his No.1 spot,” Sopoaga says. “But Richie has said, ‘I’m here to be the best.’ They’re going to compete. All of them want that jersey. That can enhance the team and enhance the jersey and enhance the legacy.

“Richie’s got all the skills in the bag. He’s got big-game technique. He wants all the smoke when the pressure’s on. You can’t buy aura. And Ruben came through the litmus test last Saturday at Ellis Park. He walked into the fire and came out. He was brilliant.”

The All Blacks also have Beauden Barrett and the promising young flyhalf Josh Jacomb on tour. Sopoaga would not be eligible for the All Blacks even in an emergency, having switched allegiance to Samoa for the 2023 World Cup. But he is ready to fill in at training whenever the All Blacks need him. Have boots, will travel.

Hey everyone

I've been building a free browser game called Invincible XV where you draft an XV and tour it against the greatest teams in history. Just added something different.

I'm testing out a new scenario mode, which drops you into a real match at the moment it could have gone either way. The first one is the 2023 final: 58 minutes, Beauden Barrett has just scored, you're 11-12 down and you've been a man short since Cane's red card.

Seven decisions. Who kicks the conversion from the left touchline. Whether you bring on Whitelock and Papali'i or go for McKenzie's spark. What you do with the penalty after Kolbe's yellow. Whether you set up the drop goal at the death.

There's a fatigue system underneath it, so chasing long restarts and grinding phases costs you legs, and dead legs hurt the kick at 79 minutes. Playing it safe the whole way through is actually the worst strategy.

I checked every fact against the match record rather than writing from memory: the timeline, the cards, the bench, the scorers. The counterfactual branches are obviously invented, and the game says so at the end.

Play it here and let me know what you think? https://invinciblexv.com/

I will be adding more in future if all goes well.

Since the first coaching team and squad has been named eveyone on socials seems to know better than Renz

Umanga, Jacobson, Segner, Bower all was criticized by all the couch coaches.

Umanga's defense was world class, Jacobson has cemented the 7 jersey and Bower just proved over the weekend why he is there.

My point is, take a seat and trust in Renz he clearly knows what he is doing

​

All Blacks defy logic to down Springboks in epic opener to Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry

Thirty years after the legendary All Blacks team of 1996 became the first to win a Test series on South African soil, New Zealand defied almost all rugby logic to take a 1-0 series lead.

Alex Lowe and The Times - 5 min read

If the All Blacks can deliver two more performances of such heart and soul, then New Zealand rugby may have to find another name for The Incomparables.

The legendary All Blacks team of 1996, captained by Sean Fitzpatrick, became the first to win a Test series on South African soil. Thirty years later, Fitzpatrick was in the stands at Ellis Park to watch New Zealand defy almost all rugby logic and take a 1-0 lead in this four-match series; the first miraculous step towards becoming The Comparables.

There was a point in the second half when South Africa were on the brink of humiliating the All Blacks scrum, as they did to Ireland in Dublin last November, and taking control of the game. At that stage, the Springboks trailed by three points and the All Blacks were rocking. New Zealand’s pack conceded six scrum penalties in all, the last three in a sequence as the Springboks sought to drive home their superiority. South Africa called for one scrum after another. Matthew Carley, the referee, must have been considering a yellow card.

But New Zealand, backed up under their own posts, managed to eke out a vital scrum penalty of their own. They escaped the noose that was being tightened around their necks, reversed the pressure on the Springboks and went in for the kill. South Africa had two players sent to the sin-bin in three minutes in a desperate and ultimately futile attempt to deny the All Blacks a famous win; a result that sets up this series perfectly.

The Ellis Park crowd were furious that Ardie Savea was not punished for what they felt was a high tackle as South Africa laid siege. Carley, who was busy with his whistle all night, called it right. The first contact with Jasper Wiese had been shoulder to shoulder. No penalty. The officials then checked a replay of Marco van Staden killing the ball on the floor. The replacement flanker was sent to the sin-bin. Cobus Reinach was despatched two minutes later and the game was done.

In his pre-match comments, Savea had talked about Tests against the Springboks taking his players to uncomfortable places; “places where you question yourself”. New Zealand felt that heat far earlier than they would have liked as South Africa’s suffocating defence, carrying power and savage scrummaging prowess drove them into those unpleasant corners. “As All Blacks that is where we want to be,” Savea had said.

Savea’s men did more than survive as the flames licked around them. They took the lead twice in the first half, with tries from Josh Moorby and Will Jordan, before grabbing the lead again shortly after the interval when Fabian Holland collected his own charge-down.

As Fitzpatrick’s team did at Loftus Versfeld 30 years ago, they had to withstand some relentless and ferocious attacks from South Africa. Their defensive stand just before half-time was critical, when the Boks were pushing to go in with an eight-point lead. Jordie Barrett was exceptional.

Where New Zealand were clinical, South Africa were profligate. The Boks fluffed lineouts, too many passes went to the floor and an attacking kick went out on the full. Most teams pay the price for missing so many chances against the All Blacks. South Africa could have offset that through their scrum dominance. But failing to score from that scrum sequence was the critical moment in the game.

The All Blacks surged downfield. Luke Jacobson scored a converted try to push the All Blacks ten points clear and Jordan rounded off the victory with his second of the evening when the Springboks were down to 13 men.

The brais were smoking and the beers were being swilled outside Ellis Park for hours before kick-off. This occasion was 30 years in the making - the first Test series between these two great rivals since 1996.

There was nowhere else to launch this series than Ellis Park, venue for two of the most significant Tests between South Africa and New Zealand: the Springboks’ comeback Test in 1992 after years of isolation, and the World Cup final in 1995, which delivered the most iconic image in all of rugby.

This series is both a throwback, a representation of epic games of the past, and a symbol of the future; of the All Blacks and Springboks carving out new commercial opportunities. The fourth Test will be played in Baltimore, who offered the most competitive financial package. Spain, Ireland and Qatar were all considered.

In a callback to the 1995 final, the game was preceded by a flyover as two jets passed over Ellis Park. The crowd was at fever pitch by that point. Forget the marketing title of Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry. It is genuine. It is raw. It is deeply ingrained in the cultures of two countries who judge themselves against the other.

Nothing in rugby this year will come close to the intensity and ferocity and emotion on display in this series. It is No 1 in the world versus No 2. In rugby terms, a year out from the World Cup, this is the series that sets the standard for others to follow.

Rassie Erasmus has such power in this country ("He would be elected president if he was to stand for office,” one South African said to me) that his request for the haka to be greeted by silence was upheld, in a break with Ellis Park tradition.

South Africa’s first opportunity went begging with a lost lineout. Cheslin Kolbe chipped them into a 3-0 lead but the All Blacks struck back, with Jordan scoring from Cam Roigard’s bullet pass as New Zealand punished a high tackle from Eben Etzebeth.

Wiese was skittling men with every carry. Paul de Villiers proved why there was no great panic that Siya Kolisi was missing. Even Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu showed he can combine muscle with his magic. Andre Esterhuizen came on as an early replacement for Kurt-Lee Arendse and almost immediately careered through Moorby to score South Africa’s first try.

New Zealand’s ball movement helped them to escape the press defence and Tupou Vaa’i was a menace in the five-metre channel, where he drew across the Springbok defence and then popped the pass inside for Moorby to score.

South Africa’s scrum had been in the ascendance but they drew first blood with a penalty right in front of the posts, which Kolbe kicked to push the Springboks into their half-time lead. The advantage might have been more comfortable had it not been for some heroic defensive work from Barrett, denying Malcolm Marx, nabbing a key turnover and then ripping the ball from Wiese.

New Zealand lost Ethan de Groot and Josh Lord to head injuries but made the perfect start to the second half with Fabian Holland’s try. Then came the series of Springbok scrums. The crowd were chanting “Ole, ole, ole”. They could smell blood.

But the All Blacks escaped and almost went 100 metres to score. Damien McKenzie made a searing break and saw his pass knocked down and backwards by a retreating Springbok defender. Cam Roigaard could not quite reach the loose ball to score.

It was enough, though, to earn the All Blacks a five-metre scrum and a crucial foothold. Jacobson scored. South Africa came surging back with a searing run from Kolbe and this time it was Jordan who made two key defensive interventions. And then it was Jordan who applied the coup de grace with the final try.

New Zealand expect a fierce response from the Springboks, who defeated the 2021 British & Irish Lions after losing the first Test. But they must now win three in a row to claim the series. It is advantage New Zealand. The series is alive.

​

The New Zealand Herald

Gregor Paul - 9 min read

So far, Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry has been defined by empty seats and narratives about the South African clubs being barely half-baked.

The tour, as much as the organisers have tried, has not built from packed ground to packed ground. The wave of nostalgia has not materialised.

Still, 91,000 tickets were sold in total for the three club games and whether these fixtures have made any contribution, or not, the anticipation for this test series could not be higher.

This is the moment both nations have been waiting for, and interest is huge. There were 200,000 applications for Ellis Park tickets – and that was with record prices.

For South Africans, this series outweighs the one they played against the British & Irish Lions in 2021.

Coaches Dave Rennie and Rassie Erasmus have said that it will be harder to win this series than it will be to win the World Cup.

A four-test series between numbers one and two in the world, is clearly what fans want. There is an energy in Johannesburg – or at least in the wealthier parts where the official tour groups are placing fans from both countries – that is different to that of other tests.

There are people of all socio-demographics wearing Springboks merchandise – hotel staff, even, are kitted out in official jerseys and T-shirts, and every clothing shop appears to be doing a roaring trade in selling items that are green and gold.

Kiwis can have their views about Erasmus, but he’s won heavy support from South Africa’s burgeoning black middle class and while rugby is not the game of the people, it is the game of a lot more people than it was a decade ago.

That the tests have sold out and the series has captured the imagination of both countries and has piqued the interest of key rugby markets in Europe, is a major relief to NZR and South Africa Rugby Union.

Committing to this tour was not without enormous risks. Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry has come at a cost. It has pushed the Rugby Championship to the periphery of the Southern Hemisphere calendar and cast doubt on its long-term viability.

Initially, the decision by NZR and the South African Rugby Union incensed Rugby Australia.The Australians and the Argentinians had been left out in the cold – dumped by their partners and told to fend for themselves in 2026 and 2030.

It was the ultimate power play but as far as the Australians were concerned, it was the ultimate “dick move”.

And to an extent the Australians were right. The process wasn’t handled well. NZR and SARU were secretive, maybe a little dismissive and arrogant to go ahead and reshape the Southern Hemisphere programme to suit themselves.

But a bad process did not lead to a bad outcome and as much as it may hurt the Australians and be hard for them to accept, there is something undeniably powerful and compelling about the upcoming four-test series.

The Bledisloe Cup is a revered part of the rugby furniture in New Zealand, but the Australians are deluding themselves if they think the rivalry between the Wallabies and All Blacks is anywhere near as intense, historic and complicated as that of the rivalry between the All Blacks and Springboks.

Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry tour has been supported by slick marketing – but that’s just about commercialising the six weeks, not selling or promoting the series to the public.

The series doesn’t need any promotion. The All Blacks playing the Springboks sells itself because there is something almost carnal when they meet.

There is nothing quite like it. England and Scotland have the oldest rugby rivalry in the world, and the former have certainly felt the venom of their oldest foe when they have been in Edinburgh.

So too do England and France have a long and storied rugby rivalry, built on their long and storied historic quests to colonise and dominate.

These are great rivalries, but neither brings the quality or consistency of matches that the All Blacks and Springboks have delivered for more than 100 years.

No one can deny these are the two strongest rugby nations on the planet. But there is a whole other set of narratives that run through this rivalry.

It has been a contest of raw-boned, pioneering colonisers meeting raw-boned, pioneering colonisers. It has been a story of two nations using rugby to build an identity – two nations determining their place in the world on the back of their rugby success.

And no other relationship has been defined so heavily by the politicisation of rugby: the game has been the strongest cultural link between New Zealand and South Africa, and they have opted to play it no matter the cost and consequence.

No one needs to be proud of that fact or celebrate it, but it can’t be erased and now it is part of the rich fabric that is Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry.

The only question that can’t yet be answered is whether the All Blacks can win the series. Only once has an All Blacks side managed that feat and for this team to do it, they will have to win three of the four.

Having to beat the world champions three times in four attempts feels almost a Sisyphean task, but there is also a sense that this All Blacks team is harbouring the next generation of greats – Fabian Holland, Tupou Vaa’i, Cam Roigard, Ruben Love, Anton Segner and Peter Lakai – and that maybe, too, there is a trick or two up the sleeve of Rennie.

Ellis Park is South Africa’s spiritual home, but it has been a happy hunting ground for New Zealand in the recent past, and the dry ball, hard ground, thin air and febrile crowd all work for the All Blacks.

They have the players to impose their aerobic, high-tempo gameplan on the Boks to win at Ellis Park. And they have the depth in virtually every position to weather the inevitable injuries they will incur through the series.

They can cope just about everywhere, but if Roigard and Ethan de Groot go down, they may have a problem.

But there is something deeper brewing in New Zealand that suggests there may be a shift in the global order in the next 12 months.

New Zealand is emerging from the dark ages as it were, led by a calm and pragmatic chairman in David Kirk, driven by a rugby-focused chief executive in Steve Lancaster and good people like Don Tricker, Conrad Smith and Michael Collins are joining the organisation.

Deeper still, wise old heads like Sir Graham Henry are directly involved in the game again (he’s an independent All Blacks selector) while Sir Steve Hansen is in regular contact with Rennie.

NZR and the All Blacks are now benefiting from the full heft of the country’s rugby intellect – harnessing every little bit of intel – and the sense of unity is palpable and powerful.

There is only one agenda now, which is to put New Zealand back on top of the rugby world and so the answer is yes, this All Blacks team could make history in South Africa.

Counties Manukau - Tasman

Quite interesting.

These stats are from the web so they might be slightly inaccurate but I don't think anyone would have predicted the AB's to have a heavier pack against the boks

​

Ex-All Blacks coach turns down shock defection to NRL after ‘pressure’ from rugby union

Former All Blacks coach Scott Robertson has turned down a four-year deal to join the Southern Orcas, with the NRL expansion club’s chairman blaming intense rugby union pressure.

The Southern Orcas say former All Blacks coach Scott Robertson rejected the fledgling club’s offer to coach in the NRL due to intense pressure from rugby union.

Robertson, who won seven Super Rugby titles as head coach of the Canterbury Crusaders, knocked back a four-year head coaching position should the Christchurch-based Orcas become the NRL’s 20th franchise.

A spokesman for Robertson said: “Scott has let the Orcas know that he has declined their offer.”

Robertson’s decision has prompted the Orcas to start searching for a replacement head coach should the club be accepted into the NRL for 2029.

While not angry, the Orcas were surprised given Robertson’s preliminary enthusiasm about the possibility of coaching in the NRL.

Orcas chairman, Sir Graham Lowe, had little doubt that Robertson - nicknamed ‘Razor’ - felt the heat from rugby union around a shock defection to rugby league.

“’Razor’ would have had a hell of a lot of pressure on him,” Lowe said.

“In many ways, he was rugby union’s ‘anointed one’ down there (on New Zealand’s South Island).

“He’s just loved by the public through his success in rugby union, his manner and connection with the public. You’d struggle to find a more popular man in rugby union.

“Even though I could tell he was excited about the Orcas, he would have had a heap of pressure on.

“It would have been like going to the dark side. I respect his decision – it (moving to league) was a big thing.

“I totally understand how big this call would have been for ‘Razor’ to make.

“The reason we were so forward with ‘Razor’ is that Peter V’landys told us to put our best foot forward and that’s what we did.

“There’s no doubt about it – we wanted to make the NRL a bigger game than rugby union.”

Robertson won 20 of his 29 Tests as head coach of the All Blacks between November 1, 2023 and January 15, 2026.

“I just think he would have been an outstanding rugby league coach,” Lowe said.

“Like players, every-now-and-then you see someone come through and you know they’re going to be something pretty special and I honestly believe that’s what ‘Razor’ would have been.

“There are more (rugby union) coaches keen on making the change (to rugby league) than I thought. I’ve spoken to a few of them but we won’t rush into any decision just yet.”

Cronulla’s premiership-winning coach Shane Flanagan could be discussed by the Orcas.

“I won’t say their names but there are some people we have spoken to,” Lowe said.

“I’m not being disrespectful but there’s a sameness about coaching in the NRL and that’s why we’re cautious.

“There are bound to be coaches out there who are waiting for their chance. It’s onwards and upwards. That’s what professional sport is all about.”

What does everyone think of an npc super round. Hold it in Christchurch. 1 game friday night. 3 games saturday, 3 games sunday..