Springboks vs All Blacks: Double the rugby, double the gees in Soweto

CHAMPIONS! The best part about Saturday, the 5th of September at the FNB Stadium in Soweto isn’t that it will feature the third test match, Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry between the Springboks and the All Blacks, or that there will most likely be another Airlink Flyover that will be watched by the whole world, but rather that the action starts at 13h30.

Yes, rugby fans have two massive clashes to look forward to on the day. In a repeat of the 2025 Women’s Rugby World Cup quarter-final, the Springbok Women will host the Black Ferns in a curtain-raiser at the FNB Stadium. The Springbok Women lost that game in 2025, 46-17, after a good first half that left both teams tied at 10 points. So, South African rugby fans will be looking and hoping for revenge this time round. 

OK! Let’s talk Springbok Men.

Saturday is almost the decider with one more game in Baltimore the following week, but the team that wins this week cannot lose Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry. It’s humungous. Just thinking about sitting there on Saturday gives me goosebumps.

And there has already been a lot of drama with New Zealand coach Dave Rennie accusing the Springbok scrum of ‘walking around’ as they engage, BUT photo evidence circulating on social media suggests it’s the All Blacks who are doing this. Rassie Erasmus was pretty vocal about it in a press conference this week with an uncharacteristic outburst that even included the ‘f’ word. No, not ‘furious’, the other ‘f’ word that rhymes with what people might do at the stadium during the Airlink flyover. 

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So, for those of us who don’t understand what the Springboks have been accused of, here’s a short explanation. New Zealand coach Rennie says the Bok scrum, particularly loosehead Ox Nché, sets at a slight angle rather than square to the opposition's front row, which is sometimes called "walking around." Instead of a straight head-on shove, Nché allegedly angles his binding away from the opposing tighthead, isolating him from his own hooker and lock's support. That angled pressure twists the tighthead's shoulders and hips out of alignment before the Boks finish him off with what then looks like a clean, legal, straight drive. So, the damage is done in the setup, not the shove itself. This accusation has now even been taken to World Rugby. In other words, if push comes to shove, there might even be a thorough investigation and not just press conference banter. (I’m proud of that one!)  

Finally, the Springbok team for Saturday. Rassie will send out an almost unchanged pack. The front row of Ox Nché, Malcolm Marx and Wilco Louw stays intact, and the loose trio of Siya Kolisi, Pieter-Steph Du Toit and Jasper Wiese now holds a Springbok record for combined Test starts together. The only reshuffle is at the back: Damian Willemse, knocked out in Cape Town, is replaced by Cheslin Kolbe at fullback. Rassie was short a fullback, so he selected a short fullback. Kurt-Lee Arendse is recalled on the wing, and Ethan Hooker keeps his spot. Everything else stays the same.

The Springbok Men's game kicks off at 17h10, and with only limited tickets still available, it will be in front of a 90-odd-thousand crowd. Champions, I might even cry during the anthem. Actually, I might even cry before, during and after the anthem. Score prediction: Springboks by 11.  

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