Rummaging through the attic can be a really wonderful thing. You find one past you forgot, or another you never knew existed. In one such search, I discovered an article I had written on The Roar, so long a buzzing hive of independent sports thought about, five years ago, almost to the day.
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The Springboks were the reigning world champions, and had just come off a bitter series against the British and Irish. Lions which they eventually won by two tests to one against the backdrop of echo chambers of lifeless stadiums emptied by Covid. Controversy was still thick after South African head coach ‘Rassie’ Erasmus made a video questioning the actions of Australian umpire Nic Berry in the first Test, which South Africa lost 17-22 in Cape Town.
When the Boks went to Queensland in rounds three and four Rugby Championship that followed, they landed Australia without their spiritual leader, and promptly lost both games against the Wallabies; the first at Robina Stadium on the Gold Coast 28-26, the second 30-17 at the old Wally Lewis Stadium at Lang Park in Brisbane.
After the peak of the Himalayan performances required by the Lions and without Erasmus, the green and gold body was going through the rugby motions with its heart taken out. As the article recalls: “Oh, how the Springboks miss their great magician, Rassie Erasmus. Without him, the magic and charisma are absent. His South African charges may be heartbroken on home shores too, after a lengthy quarantine in Queensland. Regardless of his influence behind the scenes, not a word has been heard from Erasmus, not even in public.”
Of late, the Springboks have been camping in Terrigal, New South Wales, in anticipation of their first overseas match of 2026 against the Wallabies at Optus Stadium in Perth this Saturday. Although Rassie no longer keeps her head down, some other circumstances are strangely similar.
Bokke is coming off another big peak performance and another long tour of the country, this time Dave Rennie’s New Zealand. During that RGR run they also conceded an average of over four tries per game. Back in 2021, emergency head coach Jacques Nienaber felt the need to apologize after a second loss in Brisbane for a ‘very poor defensive performance’ and conceding four tries for the first time since 2018.
It’s as good a historical marker as the home fans are now clinging to.
Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose, as the saying goes, and five years later the Springboks were still winning a major series on their own patch using the same formula. South Africa lost the steals at the breakdown 6-2 in the first Test at RGR 2026, but reversed the tally in the final three Tests, winning the turnaround battle 13 to six. New Zealand Nations Championship Offensive arm control was the biggest casualty.
Even with Rassie very present and correct, Australia will be praying fervently for a change in refereeing priorities like 2021 five years later, with Andrea Piardi at the helm in Perth. The Italian’s last and most memorable action on Australian shores was the go-ahead clearance of Carlo Tizzano by Welshman Jac Morgan that gave the British and Irish Lions victory in the Test series a year ago on the very last play of the game. Australians everywhere wouldn’t mind the same preferences being shown tomorrow.
A win for the Wallabies is important for the future well-being of the Rugby Championship. The Grand Tour may be back with a bang to take center stage in mid-2026, but the rest of the Rugby Championship fixture list is still important. With the new Nations Championship changing every other year and the RGR every four, the question arises whether the Rugby Championship could not be more cost-effectively moved towards the same window as Six Nations in the north.
The Nations Championship is rugby’s new financial flagship. It is backed by large, institutional capital, with an initial forecast of US$659 million in the first two issues, and unprecedented sponsorship from Qatar Airways of US$105 million over eight years. The tournament is broadcast on free television in England and France with an emphasis on digitally mounted direct fan engagement, so its reach is wide and deep. The final at Twickenham later in the year is being billed as rugby’s answer to Glastonbury, with a three-day pass costing the average Joe $368. This is rugby finally entering the world of big business, and the sheer size and scope of the undertaking could be overwhelming. As Rassie himself noted, “It’s just my opinion, but I think it would be fantastic if we could all play the Rugby Championship when it’s the Six Nations. It would be a lot easier to know the other teams, to be all aligned. To have some countries not flat in June and others peak in November and then we’re flat in November.
“Law changes or variations would then be much easier to implement across the board as all competitions start at the same time. Maybe there’s a big thing I’m missing but I see no reason why we, New Zealand, Argentina and Australia don’t play that competition at the same time as the Six Nations.”
The Springboks overshadowed Cougars in their warm-up and they won All black people 3-1 in the titanic RGR series. Can they clean up their TRC rivals completely? The Wallabies will retreat to their last redoubt and defend Rorke’s Drift for their lives.
The good news is that they have the ability to cause the Boks headaches in areas where the All Blacks have given them a free ride – nowhere more so than at Nos. 4, 5 and 6 in attack, and in execution on both sides of the throw. Where Rassie stuck with his tried and trusted core team of Eben Etzebeth, Ruan Nortjé and Pieter-Steph Du Toit throughout the RGR series, New Zealand used four different combinations and seven different players in those key back-five roles.
South Africa have progressed well on both sides of the hurling in four matches and confirmed their status as one of the top two sides in the world:
Another nation fighting for prominence at the top of the rankings is Australia:
Turn your attention to the individual comparisons and you’ll find the same signs at the top end of the table: Josh Canham tops with 16 goals, followed by Ruan Nortjé (15), Eben Etzebeth (13), and Wallaby duo Jeremy Williams and Charlie Cale9 in fourth place. The Wallabies are primed to give the Springboks competition in lineups the All Blacks could not, especially in their own hurling.
Australia are developing real, significant depth in the second row and at blindside. Although Will Skelton was the chor de combat at the start of the Les Kiss era and Nick Frost has been given most of the international season so far in 2026, the combination of Canham, Williams and striker Lukhan Salakai-Lotto have filled the ranks more than adequately. Behind them, a choice for the ages opens up between current skipper Harry Wilson, the monstrous Tom Hooper and the quick-footed Charlie Cale at #6.
Although Japan fielding a pair of two-metre-plus locks for the first time in their history – rugby standout Warner Dearns at 2.03m and Australian expatriate Harry Hockings at 2.06m – they struggled to cope with the fast-twitch Wallabies: first Cale up front, then Canham in the middle:
— William Bishop (@RPvids1994) September 18, 2026
— William Bishop (@RPvids1994) September 18, 2026
Both Cale in the first clip and Canham in the second provide significant height to their opposite players, but their ability to get off the ground more quickly is more important. That became even more important during the two-match mini-series against Argentina and their veteran player Guido Petti:
— William Bishop (@RPvids1994) September 18, 2026
— William Bishop (@RPvids1994) September 18, 2026
— William Bishop (@RPvids1994) September 18, 2026
Petti is short for a modern lock at just 1.93m, but he’s made a great living as a receiver and signal-caller thanks to his incredible quickness off the ground. He likes to use the receiver to initiate the throw to take advantage of that spring, rather than using complex motion bait patterns before the ball is delivered. But he meets his match up front/middle with first Jeremy Williams, then Josh Canham – who withdrew late with a hamstring strain against the Springboks – and finally Cale who is blowing up faster than their opposite players.
Winning a quarter of the ball delivered in the opposition’s throw-in was one of many outstanding features of Rod Macqueen’s World Cup-winning sides in the late nineties and early nineties, and Les Kiss’s new Wallabies have been good enough to emulate that steal percentage so far in 2026. A little nostalgia goes a long way. It bodes well for next year’s World Cup host nation in an era of tumultuous change in the current international calendar.