There is a storyline that was missed during the Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry Series, one that sort of fell by the wayside while the Springboks were engineering their comeback, and ensuring they won the series 3-1.
Because it involves both coaches and the differences say a lot about not only where they ended up in the series, but what the future would hold for both teams.
Let’s go back to the start, where the narrative formed around Dave Rennie’s comments - started against the Stormers in the opening game - that he wasn’t happy about the way the scrum was officiated.
That continued to Durban for game two - and while we all remember rain bucketing down, Ma’a Nonu’s haka and a limp performance from a young Sharks team - in the lead up to that game Rennie was asked about time-wasting - a question that no doubt was planted by the management.
That became the central theme over the next few weeks, and Rennie had the command of the media. Very little attention was being paid to the franchise coaches, who were becoming more and more frustrated behind the scenes that their inquiries to World Rugby about infringements were going unheeded.
Tucking the shoulder at the ruck - one particular incident caused outrage against the Stormers and wasn’t even addressed by World Rugby - but in general their queries were being fobbed off while Rennie held court.
BOKS INITIALLY TOOK THE BAIT
That seemed to play out the initial part of the tour, before the tests began and it wasn’t surprising that at the first opportunity the Boks got to address these claims, as well as highlight some of their own, they took that opportunity.
After two weeks of Rennie accusing South Africans of every ill in the game, and proclaiming their way of playing rugby was the right way, Rassie Erasmus turned up at the first press conference with Jaco Peyper, the team’s laws adviser and former referee.
They countered the narrative of time-wasting, and brought up a few claims of their own. It was interesting to see the reaction. The Kiwi media called it a power play, and some of the British writers harked back to the “toxicity of the Lions tour.” Nevermind the fact that Rennie had been making claims for weeks beforehand.
And then the blowout in the first test. A game where the Boks got stunned by a refereeing decision at the scrum after they were seduced by their own dominance in the setpiece. They fell apart and the All Blacks pounced. Five tries to one we were told is a story.
RENNIE CROSSED A LINE
Basking in the glory of victory, Rennie upped the ante, and started going on about how the Bok scrum was illegal. That became the narrative for the second test. Rennie said they had lodged a complaint at World Rugby accusing the Boks of cheating in the setpiece.
That was aided by Nika Amashukeli pulling out of the second test because of illness, and Rennie’s words found sympathy from Angus Gardner, who ironically refs Super Rugby to avoid the scrum (not his doing btw, but more a competition focus).
But here’s where it gets interesting. In that week the Boks shut up shop and realised they weren’t going to win that game. They would always be seen as the villains by some in world rugby and their best answer had to be on the field.
The images of Gardner scolding World Player of the year Malcolm Marx during the game for questioning the All Blacks shift on the brake foot will forever live with that test, as Gardner abdicated his responsibility to referee the setpiece and made it - as it has been in Super Rugby - a restart rather than an integral part of the game.
BOKS WON WITHOUT THE SCRUM
The Boks won that game without their scrum, and they proved a point on how good a side they were. But instead of being gracious in defeat, Rennie continued the scrum diatribe - and stepped over a line that never needed to be crossed.
The scrum in South Africa is a weapon. It is part of the psychology of dominance in a Springbok team and it is an immense sense of pride. Forget World Rugby trying to outlaw it, the setpiece is here to stay. But Rennie, blinded by his ambition, didn’t see that.
As my colleague Gavin Rich put it - it was an attack on rugby. An attack on an integral part of the game just because New Zealand believe they need their rugby to be more like League, and the psychology of Super Rugby taught them to forget there was a setpiece to begin with.
So when Rennie went after the scrum again, we saw the only flash of anger from Rassie the entire series. “We are not fu$# per centng walking around.” That quote will reverberate for a long time.
Rennie misread the room, misread the situation and took it too far.
That sparked something deep within the Boks. Daan Human came out to profess: “I’m a farmer, I can’t cheat” - a quote that made headlines, but the quieter quote - the one that many missed - was the one that when he said “I have taken this to heart.”
RED FLAG WAVED AT BOK PACK
Human takes immense pride in the setpiece, and is one of the most determined people to wear a bucket hat. The red flag was waved in front of him and his pack. And the way they chose to answer was sublime.
The third test was never a close one, despite the scoreline. The Boks battered the All Blacks, so much that three players limped off and went home. Going to Baltimore there was always going to be only one outcome.
Rennie started playing down the scrum talk before the third test, said he didn’t want to give it any more airtime. Was he rebuffed behind the scenes by World Rugby? It is hard to say.
But while he tried to spin the narrative, the Boks simply went to work. While Rennie tried to change the headlines, Rassie got down and coached. Rassie challenged his assistants after the first test loss and laid down the gauntlet for the team as well. And they responded.
Rennie admitted it before Baltimore, saying that he and World Rugby have a marked difference of opinion on the scrums. But it was too late. He was out-foxed and his plan had backfired.
Further evidence of this came from claims the All Blacks had fixed their setpiece in Baltimore - despite the fact that scrum resets and free kicks turning into penalties robbed the Boks of a chance to dominate with their heavier front row.
Deon Fourie’s appearance in the back-up front row was never going to produce the same scrumming result. But again afterwards Neil Barnes complained to NZ Radio that the Boks got a penalty for the brake foot “for bugger all”.
BARNES QUOTE SAYS MORE THAN KIWIS REALISE
“Every time they keep getting penalties for bugger all and get to slow the game down, it brings them back into it,” he was quoted as saying.
“We get two penalties against us at the start of the game for a brake foot, which no one really gives a s*** about, but the referees are concentrating on.
“And when you look at the video, both teams have done exactly the same thing at the same time. There’s two penalties against us.”
The irony is that referees wouldn’t have been worrying about the brake foot had Rennie not made an issue of the scrums. And by doing that the All Blacks had outfoxed themselves as well.
But it also points to a bigger issue: If referees give a penalty for a transgression of a law, then how can it be an issue? A law is a law.
Barnes is really saying that refs should give penalties for transgressions the All Blacks care about and others don’t matter. That’s an admission in a quote that sums up everything that is wrong with the All Black approach.
The bottom line is Rennie went too far. Rassie hunkered down and got the result. By not taking the bait, by coaching when it mattered, he ensured that the first test was all the All Blacks got.
Rennie will learn from it, but there is no other way to see it than he overplayed his hand, and in silence Rassie gave him the best answer of all.