Somewhere between Cape Town and this Saturday’s third Test, the greatest rivalry in world rugby lost the plot, writes CLINTON VAN DER BERG.
What should be a showcase of skill, courage and brutal physicality has curdled into a playground squabble. He started it. No, he started it. Round and round it goes, and it’s getting harder to watch without cringing
The scrum wars kicked it off, jibes flying from both camps, and it hasn’t stopped since. Coaches who should know better have taken to sniping through the media rather than through their teams’ performances on the field, and it has turned spiteful in a way that feels, frankly, juvenile. This is Test rugby’s biggest stage, 1-1 in a series that deserves to be remembered for the rugby, not the bickering.
RASSIE: We’re not f**king walking around!
And of course, once the coaches lead, everyone follows. Fans pile in. Pundits pile in. Suddenly everybody’s an expert on scrum engagement laws, breakdown technicalities and the inner motives of referees they’ve never met. Social media becomes a courtroom with no judge, just a mob convinced the other side is cheating and their own side is a victim.
Here’s what makes it so galling: South Africans and New Zealanders have never actually hated each other. Quite the opposite. This ancient rivalry has always run on mutual respect, dressing-room friendships, and banter with real warmth underneath it. It’s why we love it.
Boks and All Blacks have grown up admiring one another, tested themselves against one another, and gone for beers together afterward. That’s what made it great.
Somewhere along the way, that spirit has been swapped for grievance and finger-pointing, and it’s a shame to watch it happen in real time.
MALLETT: All Blacks are cheating
Let’s also be honest about something obvious that keeps getting lost: rugby will never be perfect, and neither will referees. A missed call, an inconsistent call, even a bad call, doesn’t mean there’s a conspiracy. It means the person with the whistle is human, making split-second decisions at frightening speed.
Getting emotional when a result doesn’t go your way is understandable, it’s sport, it matters. But the theatrics, the accusations, the digs, the endless litigating of grievances in press conferences, that’s just tedious, and it does nobody any favours.
DAAN: Boks don’t want to walk around scrum
This weekend offers the perfect chance to reset. Two brilliant sides, the series in the balance, a grand stage befitting the occasion. Let the players settle it the way this rivalry has always been settled best: with skill, with physicality, and with respect intact at the final whistle.
The circus needs to end. It’s time to let the rugby speak.
Photo: Grant Pitcher/Gallo Images
The post Cut the spite, cue the rugby appeared first on SA Rugby magazine.
Somewhere between Cape Town and this Saturday’s third Test, the greatest rivalry in world rugby lost the plot, writes CLINTON VAN DER BERG.
The post Cut the spite, cue the rugby appeared first on SA Rugby magazine. Read More
