news-engine

There is concern in the Springbok camp about the physicality and brutality the All Blacks have shown at the breakdown in tour matches leading up to Saturday’s opening rugby Test, coach Rassie Erasmus says. Neither team will take a backward step in what will be a merciless battle for dominance in the opening Test of the Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry (RGR) series in front of 62,000 fans at Ellis Park in Johannesburg (kickoff 5.10pm). After the Ellis Park showdown, the sides square off in: - Cape Town for the second Test at the DHL Stadium (August 29); - the FNB Stadium in Johannesburg (September 5); and - a series finale at the M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore (September 12). “What concerns us most is how physical and brutal they are at the breakdown so far,” Erasmus said. #RugbysGreatestRivalry, as told by the men who make it what it is 🇿🇦🇳🇿 — SuperSport Rugby (@SSRugby) August 18, 2026 Stream every match of the series live on SuperSport 📺 pic.twitter.com/1bgcRTXuBu “They take the ball through so many phases, and then they put in a well-timed grubber kick; their attacking kicks are as dangerous as when they have ball-in-hand. “They will also have plans they didn’t show in the Nations Championship, little things, such as lineout variations, maybe a front peel or back peel move, and there are things that have caught us out before.” Erasmus said his team were braced for a high-intensity showdown against a well-drilled All Black outfit. “You can see it on social media,” he said. “They’re advocating a high-intensity, running game, with multi-phase attacks. And when you analyse it, it definitely shows in the stats. “[All Blacks head coach] Dave Rennie is very sharp. I coached against him with Munster against Glasgow. Serfontein ➡️ JDV ➡️ Hendricks ➡️ Serfontein ➡️ Hougaard — SuperSport Rugby (@SSRugby) August 18, 2026 When you think of #RugbysGreatestRivalry at Ellis Park, this one always comes to mind 👏 pic.twitter.com/KCcZlpq6Uk “The big battle is going to be when they have the ball. They’ll have total control of what they do with it, and when we have the ball, we’ll have total control of what we do with it. “Neither team can tell the other how to use the ball.” Erasmus said his team were as excited as the rest of the country about the opening Test of the long-awaited series. “We looked forward to these games as much as you did when you [the media] were asking about it while we were playing the other matches. We just couldn’t talk about it out of respect for the opposition at the time. “We all appreciate and respect what this series means. I’d love it if the people at Ellis Park create the same atmosphere as that which the people did in Cape Town [for the opening tour match]. Some guys will face the All Blacks for the first time, and they’ve heard from their teammates how intense it is. This is a great occasion and we’re all looking forward to it. — Rassie Erasmus “The haka was heard 100%, which makes it something special. “We know how good the All Blacks are. Since 2018, when they were leading the world, we’ve always wondered when they’re going to beat us again, and they will beat us again in future, but hopefully not this weekend. “Some guys will face the All Blacks for the first time, and they’ve heard from their teammates how intense it is. This is a great occasion and we’re all looking forward to it.” Erasmus has expressed frustration with World Rugby’s new referee protocols where coaches are unable to interact with referees before or after matches as easily as in the past. “I think there’s definitely frustration from the coaches that you can’t have meetings with the referee if both teams don’t agree,” he said. “It’s now at a stage where you almost accept both teams’ coaches aren’t always going to agree to a pre-match meeting.”