The most famous chapter in the six-part novella fought between ‘Sugar’ Ray Robinson and Jake La Motta was the epitaph in Chicago on 14th February 1951. By the 13th round the right arm of the Bronx Bull was hanging limply by his side and the Sugarman was slugging him to body and head at will. La Motta stayed on his feet, refusing to go down and taste canvas for the first time in his career, and the 1980 movie Raging Bull immortalizes the final moments in grainy back and white. A bloodied, exhausted Robert De Niro hangs on the top rope with one hand, while taunting Robinson to deliver more punishment with the other. Not for nothing has that fight passed into boxing lore as ‘The Saint Valentine’s Day Massacre’.
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Over one month ago, this RugbyPass piece signalled the Greatest Rivalry series would be fought on a philosophical battleground in the no man’s land between ‘contest’ and ‘no-contest’, between winning the ball and using the ball. In recent times, progress in the game has been associated with the bulge in ball-in-play time, more phases and fewer set-pieces, and ever more try-scoring. The Nations Championship averaged over 37 minutes of ball-in-play time, nine tries and more than 200 total rucks per game.
Dave Rennie’s shiny new All Blacks were at the top of that tree, averaging a colossal 41 minutes of ball-in-play, over 138 rucks built and six tries scored per game. While New Zealand were cruising down the freeway in their multi-phase Ferrari, South Africa were dragging all comers into the brutal back alleys of the game, to the brawls among the trash cans and the abandoned, burnt-out old bangers.
Springbok supremo Rassie Erasmus got the maul law changed to benefit the attacking side, and the scrums have been less of a restart and more of an end in themselves for the past seven years – a picture of dominance, rewarded by penalties. When Schalk Brits and the rest of his front-row mates pushed back on Erasmus’ suggestion every scrum was a penalty opportunity ahead of the 2023 World Cup, he grinned. “Why not?”
Ball-winning, rather than ball-using was going to be the essence of the current series, and the key performance indicators in Johannesburg could hardly have worked out more perfectly for the hosts. Every box Erasmus would have highlighted in his pre-match prognosis was ticked, and the Springboks got the game they wanted.
- Ball-in-play time dropped like a stone, from the 37-minute average at the Nations Championship, and the All Blacks’ high-tempo 41 minutes per game, to a measly 29 minutes and 34 seconds. Tick.
- English Prem referee Matt Carley was forced to award more than 20 penalties. He blew the whistle on 24 occasions with the Springboks winning the final count 14-10. Tick.
- The South African scrum won five penalties in the first 50 minutes, with an even balance between clean ball emerging from the set-piece and penalties awarded for technical indiscretions [five apiece].
- The All Blacks were restricted to setting a mere 58 rucks, a massive 80 rucks fewer than their Nations Championship average. It was attacking gruel rather than Michelin star fine dining to which they have become accustomed. Tick.
- South Africa won the contestable kicking game hands-down. The Springboks reclaimed six out of their 11 contestable kicks for a superior 55% return, while successfully receiving four out of five of New Zealand’s [80%]. Tick.
If you ignored the scoreboard for the first 50 minutes of the game, the contest looked every bit as one-sided as the last fight between Robinson and La Motta, and it told a tale of near-complete Springbok dominance.
There was one huge ‘but’. The Boks won the lion’s share of the physical contests, but the All Blacks had an infinitely better idea of how to use their thin trickle of the ball. The match as a whole proved conclusively that simply winning the ball, and winning penalties from your possession, is no longer enough to win games of modern rugby. You have to be able to use the ball and use all 15 men on the field. The bottom line, five tries to one, does not lie.
‘Dominance’ is never its own reward. The Springboks lost the first Test because they have been unable to rediscover the enviable balance they had at the Cake Tin, when they drubbed Scott Robertson’s New Zealand 43-10. They have struggled to rediscover a perfect equilibrium between ball winning and ball using ever since, and the writing was on the wall against Ireland last November. Despite winning nine penalties or penalty advantages at scrum time, and drawing two yellow cards on the Irish front row for persistent infringement, the Bokke only chalked up 24 points against opponents who were often reduced to 14, 13 or even 12 men on defence.
The lean attacking efficiency of that statement Springbok performance in Wellington, where only seven rucks were required to achieve one clean break and five tries out of six were scored on changes of possession, with all converted within five phases of play, has not been repeated.
Robertson’s charges kicked the ball 30 times at the Cake Tin, but Rennie’s men only put boot to ball on 18 occasions at Ellis Park. They starved the Bok backfield of countering opportunities in the process, and without reading the teamsheet beforehand, you would hardly have known Damian Willemse and Cheslin Kolbe were present on the field. At least, not in any meaningful attacking sense.
The scrum was a pivotal point of debate before the game, and it was just as central after it. As Rennie opined at the post-match press conference: “We will always debate scrums, and I reckon every team does.
“When you get penalised, you question whether they’re walking around. They got penalised for walking around eventually, and that was probably a key moment in the game.
“We got great impact off the bench. Ethan de Groot, to be fair, was crook overnight. We’re really happy with the effort up front, and scrum was really solid in that last sort of 30.
“‘Grooter’ went home early from the captain’s run yesterday and spent a large time in bed. And you know he’s tough and he barred up and gave us plenty.”
The fate of the scrum at Ellis Park revealed as eloquently as any one area can the difference between the two philosophies at play. For the first 50 minutes the Springboks looked unstoppable at the set-piece, with Tyrel Lomax unable to reprise his 2024 form versus the redoubtable Ox Nche and the All Blacks leaking five penalties. At times it looked like Dublin deja vu.
The key change for New Zealand came not at tight-head prop, with Fletcher Newell coming on for Lomax, but in the epicentre of the set-piece, at hooker. With cap centurion Codie Taylor sitting in between his two Crusader mates Newell and George Bower, the right side of the New Zealand scrum torn apart.
— William Bishop (@RPvids1994) August 23, 2026
The bind between hooker and tight-head disintegrates as the pressure from Nche’s replacement Gerhard Steenekamp and Malcolm Marx ramps up. But as soon as Asafo Aumua arrived as the new man in the middle, the picture changed completely.
— William Bishop (@RPvids1994) August 23, 2026
Because Marx cannot get any movement on Aumua in the centre, Steenekamp has to drag the scrum around Newell rather than pushing him backwards, and referee Carley, who enjoyed a notably sanguine and poised game himself, makes the right call.
Erasmus was honest enough to acknowledge the change the man he had called a ‘monster’ in midweek had made.
“I think it was the right call, and I do think Gerhard walked around [the corner of the scrum]. The suggestion from up top [in the coach’s booth] was to take the three points because we were only down by that much at that stage. But without a doubt, they scrummed really well. From then, the momentum shifted.”
The ace up South Africa’s sleeve at the scrum has always been Marx, who has been the biggest and best scrummaging hooker in the world for the past seven years. But when the All Blacks found their antidote to the Springboks’ scrum poison in the shape of Aumua, the picture at the set-piece, and of the game as a whole, changed for good. New Zealand did not lose any of the six scrums set after his arrival to penalty, and they scored one try and gleaned another yellow card from the set-piece. They were even confident enough to start scrumming for sanctions themselves.
— William Bishop (@RPvids1994) August 23, 2026
The scrum goes up and it is Marx who ‘pops’ first, forced upwards by the sheer power of the Hurricanes rake. It was not the only time New Zealand used the scrum as a platform to showcase the impressive length of their kicking game.
— William Bishop (@RPvids1994) August 23, 2026
In this instance it is Jordie Barrett’s centre partner Quinn Tupaea winning the 50/22 lineout turnover with a long raking punt from inside his own half. The Kiwi mindset is to use the scrum as a launchpad for back-row moves and positive attacking play, and it was this added dimension which won them the game.
— William Bishop (@RPvids1994) August 23, 2026
There will be questions around the front row for both sides after events in Joburg. Thomas du Toit cannot return quickly enough to pair with his old buddy Wilco Louw in a Springbok one-two punch at tighthead prop, while Aumua must start for the All Blacks in the second Test, whatever the propping combination around him.
In the wider spectrum of the series, New Zealand now know they can score tries with a beggar’s ration of the ball. If the scrum is solid, they have the playmakers and finishers to do the business. Within seven short days, the Springboks must rediscover their Cake Tin sweet spot, that elusive balance between winning the ball and using the ball.
For Erasmus, Ellis Park was a sharp dig in the ribs, a reminder dominance does not win games by itself. Brutality has a short shelf-life: La Motta’s career was finished after the Saint Valentine’s Day massacre. Sugar Ray fought on for another 14 years.
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So after all Nick Bishop crap rugby is all about the set piece. Go Bokke!
😂
At that point I wil have to draw a firm line between private and public G😁
Old habits Nick - let me see your source material 😅
Jeez the editor in you does die hard doesn’t he?🤣
I think both sides could have improved their selections. Rassie could improve his further by telling the world who is really going to turn up on Saturday afternoon - without the artful/devious misdirections earlier in the week!
So what you’re saying is that if the Boks had had a proper hooker it might have been a lot worse for the AB’s? Seventeen instead of seven?
I’ve no doubt th All Blacks feel exactly the same way G.
But did Deon Fourie justify his selection ahead of guys like Wessels or Grobbelaar or even Andre-Hugo Venter who specialize at hooker? No.
The starting scrum was passive and lucky not to concede a pen at that first scrum near the Bok GL when Steenekamp dropped it.
And Deon had that big miss on Savea leading to the ABs try. He made three tackles and missed two in his time on the field.
Kudos for him to be repping his country at almost 40 yers old - great kudos. But pride in the jersey and deserving the spot are two diff things.
No, they proved me wrong and i’m glad about it. 😋 actually i was the one panicking
That didn’t age well did it TOSP. Outscrummed by a lightweight 40 year old flank posing as a hooker…….. hmm. I’d love to have been fines master for that fines evening 😂
Nick, one of the first things that is drummed into the heads of Springboks are that the first priority is to win for South Africa - that it is a tremendous honour to be in the Springbok squad playing for a nation and that mantra is continued - if anyone doesn’t buy into that completely they stick out like a sore thumb in their attitude and application and they are out.
It is a matter of immense pride to put team before self. When SFM hid a niggle so he could play and Rassie found out I believe he game Sasha such a dressing down he was virtually in tears and told him if he ever puts his wishes ahead of what’s good for the team again………..
😇😉
Shrewd and devious!😁
The world’s shrewdest rugby coach being, the world’s shrewdest rugby coach! Who’d have thunk it…🤣
Some reports suggesting Polly may get pulled before the game now😉
Yes indeed.
I don’t argue with that, but it still comes out of left field and that can throw the players who believe they are in a pecking order.
He has earned the right! His heart pumps green! The players in the team all support Rassie. He communicates honestly and clearly why he makes such calls. No behind the scenes backstabbing 😉
He was always athletic for his size. I’d imagine if Moana Pasifika (RIP) was around earlier, he could’ve been part of that back in the day.
That’s part of what makes the picture so absorbing. Sometimes Rassie offers clues in his narrative and he’s even more open after most games, not that he necessarily shows all of his cards…
Yep I enjoyed lineouts, mauls and scrum when I was not promoted to the front row!
So how can you tell whether the selection of Pollard & Deon Fourie is the result of short-term thinking or long-term planning?
Yeah me too, being tall, skinny and slow I didn’t suit playing anywhere else. 😅
I did enjoy the lineout though
But calls he is making now, for this series, will be connected to his planning for rwc 27. They can’t not be and therefore there’s always an element of complete short term thinking and win now at all costs vs bigger picture and a longer timeframe.
Not saying that all. Read the comment more carefully.
No way would Rassie accept a series loss to the ABs at home on the vague promise of a third RWC…
Bower-Codie-Tyrel, then
Numia-Aumua-Newell.
Liking the bench F/R more than the starters!
And the SA sides use that double-team you see in the Lions pushover a lot. He needs to learn the tech to counter that…
…And the UBB bench - big time! Allowed him to play at 150 k’s!
Second row. You?
I say the under done 10 was a mistake. Lots of our the backs when he was just not in position to catch the ball cleanly and a few calls out the back where he basically had no support..but wasn't in position and dropped the ball. A difficult night for the 10 who I think clearly needs more time to get his body back in order for Test Level rugby. Not his mistake,.but the coaching team.
I expect with the change at 10 we will see a very different game management particularly around not letting that pressure off.
DR and his team played that game tactically very smart. Savea running at 10, lots of attacking pressure swinging back to that right side winger. And Love pointing before the 9 threw that pass to the winger caught everyone out. He was crazy casual with the way he sold it.
Yep they rushed SFM back too quickly, his timing was off.
Showed the value of a settled midfield where the ABs looked better coordinated from 9 to 13.
As a former undersized prop, I know this very well.
From what I recall, because he was stuck in that prop logjam that was the All Blacks front row in the 2010s (Woodcock, the Franks brothers, Moody, Faumuina, Crockett etc) there was talk about shifting him to hooker to give him a spot. Never happened obviously and he committed to Tonga instead.
Yep. Angus Ta’avao and James Parsons explain it well on the Breakdown. Obviously it’s not all his fault because that Springboks pack scrums as a whole unit, but the penalties and the binding issues are what put more of a spotlight on individual props like Tosi so he’s gotta learn from that if he’s gonna stay there long term. Being stuck in that Hurricanes prop logjam probably doesn’t help. Perhaps he should move somewhere where he can get more scrummaging time.
Thats the reason why we didnt see celebration, because they know it was not a good outing at all, the weather will play into the SB chances, but with a wet ball poor handling is expected.. yes Canes Frontrow, with Crusaders reserve frontrow adding Takioaho instead of Taylor, but lets see.
As the saying goes, “salads don’t win scrums”
Nah not buying it. You’re effectively saying Rassie doesn’t do big picture strategy and that’s like telling the world that the ice ain’t melting and the bears don’t dump in the woods! 🐻💩 🌲
No if it rains it will again militate against a Nations Champ style game.
The AB forwards will know they were dominated in too many parts of the game for too long, which explains the sanguine attitude after the match.
They’ll need to pick a new starting front row and scrum better for longer, and improve their lineout and BD work on attack.
You don’t get carried away by one win when you have so much work to do😁
Exactly my points, what suprised me was the facial expressions of the AB players after the game, No one bar Holland was actually celebrating winning the world champs at their fortress, because they know they didnt do their best and wernt clinical enough on the KPI`s set out for them.. in this weekends weather, I highly doubt we will see a 120-130 ruck game and 220 odd passes either.
And you do wonder what the likes of Wessels and Grobbelaar and Kotze must be thinking when this guy is moved ahead of them in a specialist spot.
‘Honesty is its own reward’ Ed.
Getting his foot position right seems to be a problem - without collapsing!
yOU fatty! Name checks out lol
Wouldn’t that against him alone because as a former front rower, I know that scrums are a team effort. It’s the regular penalties on his side that are telling, on top of the scrum going backwards.
Better not ask how you got that…😲