How the All Blacks left ‘waarheid’ behind at the Garden of Eden

There is a truth about the world of rugby and there is also a truth about South Africa. While the rest of the rugby world dances to a compulsive disco beat under the glittering ball of a relentless attack, the world champions await the next World Cup and stick to their own advice; ready to drag the unwary back into the dark alleys outside and fight them in the gutter.

2026 Six Nations they set a new record of 111 tries scored and Les Bleus barely noticed that they had conceded the most tries (19) and points (130) in any winning campaign in the tournament’s history. Newly created Nations Championship he upped the ante sharply in July, averaging one extra try in the first three rounds.

Tackle records are falling across the rugby world faster than new heights set by pole vaulter ‘Mondo’ Duplantis. Last weekend the best two teams of English Prem, Bath and Northampton, combined for 18 total tries and 119 points between them, and television pundit Austin Healey likened the game to one of the NBA’s scoring extravaganzas. Yes, the same Austin Healey who once memorably described the essence of the modern scrum as 16-year-old boys who love food. They push. Sometimes they go up, sometimes they go down. The referee has a guess. Penalty. Lineout.’

The series of greatest rivalry between New Zealand and the reigning two-time world champions temporarily pulled the all-out kicking and screaming dance choreography back into the gutters. It was the most exciting event in the annual calendar so far, a clash of two worlds of rugby, and displays of both beauty and beast hung together along its storied walls.

It was like the Bayeux Tapestry of modern rugby, the great warhorses flying into the defensive walls of the shields, the dead brutally stripped and torn to pieces in the fight and the rout; finally, a green and gold arrow piercing around a silver fern.

It won’t happen again. Temporary suspension Rugby Championship illustrated a great divide in the game, with two divergent fairies on the road growing too far apart, too fast. South Africa flirted with the dance floor via the ‘Tony-ball’, but when pushovers come to shove, they put much more faith in the gutters. Rassie Erasmus set the stage for the RGR series like this:

“You can see on social media, ( All black people) advocate this high-intensity, multi-phase, ‘nobody can keep up’ run. (But) there are always three truths: the New Zealand truth, the world truth and then what we believe. There it is the truth – the Afrikaans word for truth.

“We think there’s a certain way to win World Cups, and we think it’s difficult. We think when you’re under pressure in attack, it’s very difficult to maintain cohesion. If the pressure is really high, you start fumbling a few balls and then you’re stuck.”

The first game of the Bledisloe Cup in between Australia and New Zealand at the Garden of Eden provided further evidence that, for better or worse, planet rugby is moving away from South Africa’s sphere of influence.

“When games are really, really ‘coupled’, you have a system you can rely on, which sometimes protects players from not always having the confidence to do things.

“Since (Kiwi attack coach) Tony (Brown) has been with us, we feel we’ve been attacking OK. We don’t think we’re bad, but we always want to keep something we can lean on when the pressure is really on.”

Before the RGR series began, the rest of the rugby world aligned itself more with New Zealand than South Africa and flocked to the bright lights, the dance floor and avoided the dark alleys of the game. When those traditional heavyweights are forward oriented, France and England, have worked out a new direction of the game on their own without any help from the shaky islands, you know you’re well and truly on your own.

The first match of the Bledisloe Cup between Australia and New Zealand at the Garden of Eden Park provided further evidence that, for better or worse, planet rugby is moving away from South Africa’s sphere of influence. Take a look at the following table, which illustrates the All Blacks’ progress in some key areas from the Nations Championship through the RGR to the first game of the Bledisloe Cup:

As soon as New Zealand left the shores of South Africa, it was as if the pennies had dropped from their eyes and they could return to a ‘normal Championship of Nations’. They comfortably achieved their goal of 100+ handles per game, while losing less than one percent to turnovers, time on the ball effortlessly increased by more than three minutes, and penalty totals decreased. Suddenly, the brawl was no longer an issue and Irish referee Andrew Brace was able to officiate the whole game without a problem at set-pieces.

What will All Blacks head coach Dave Rennie learn from the 50-19 win in Auckland, after being so graciously released from the South African crucible? The four areas of weakness highlighted by the RGR series were two setups, contested aerial play and discipline:

• Sub-par lineout. The line did not improve despite the continued selection of a natural lock (Tupou Vaa’i) at No.6. The set-piece is still fumbling its way forward with a below par average of 83% for the season.
• Sidelined scrum. With both sides intent on playing the ball, rather than taking penalties from a source of perceived dominance, we don’t know what a Kiwi scrum looks like under pressure.
• Improving discipline. Penalty balance improved due to better retention of the ball in the ruck and the marginalization of the scrum as a machine for winning penalties.
• Big win in the aerial game! The All Blacks’ biggest improvement was in contested footyagainst the same Wallaby backline that was so dominant against the Springboks.

By far the biggest step forward was made in the controversial kick game. Rennie was enthusiastic in his praise of the gains made:

“I thought (scrum-half) Cam (Roigard)’s kicking was excellent and allowed us to put a lot of pressure on. We kicked a bit more on the nine than we (did).

“I think, as you know, it’s hard to take those snaps. I think receiving teams are catching one of the four. That’s the nature of the game at this point. That’s the nature of the game at this point.”

“Our guys did a great job of winning in the air or picking up scraps, so that was a good shift.”

Rennie’s remarks were echoed by his last three superstars Will Jordan after the game:

“We’ve felt pretty good all year about the competition going forward, and I thought tonight, Cam did a great job with his shooting game — he pulled it five or so yards just to let us get in the air; like me, Jordie (Barrett) and Leroy (Carter).

“That’s always going to be an emphasis for us. So it’s a good win for us tonight, but it’s going to be important moving forward.”

One of the main ideas was to ‘bracket’ or double the Wallaby receiver under a high ball with two aerial athletes, and to give a wider target for the return:

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— William Bishop (@RPvids1994) October 11, 2026

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— William Bishop (@RPvids1994) October 11, 2026

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— William Bishop (@RPvids1994) October 11, 2026

That could be Jordie Barrett and Jordan, both lined up on the same side of the field and giving the rusher an ‘inside’ and ‘outside’ option as he closes in on the receiver, and the overpowering Joseph-Aukuso Sua’ali’i at the receiving end. Or it could be a punt that drops further down the field, with a double-team set up from the wing on that side (Leroy Carter) and a big athlete (Vaa’i) to ensure the rebound.

Jordie Barrett was at his most unrelenting and ruthless defensive mood throughout the 80 minutes and even when the Wallaby did manage to make a successful tackle, Jordie made sure he paid the appropriate price for the first try:

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— William Bishop (@RPvids1994) October 11, 2026

In this case, the ‘inside/outside’ chase works as a catch/jackal rather than a dual aerial contest, with Barrett flattening Wallaby no. 10, Ben Donaldson, and Carter finished the job by stealing the ball on the deck.

When the boot was on the other foot and the All Blacks were taking the kicks, they benefited from having three players with plenty of full-back experience on the field at one time, with regular RGR full-back Damian McKenzie on 10, Beauden Barrett on 15 and Will Jordan on the right wing:

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— William Bishop (@RPvids1994) October 11, 2026

Rennie’s All Blacks were probably glad to be back home playing in front of their home crowd on Saturday night at Eden Park. The test they received from the Wallabies was the same as those they experienced in the first three rounds of the Nations Championship. It was a test of movement on the dance floor, without too much effort to drag them off the stage, let alone into the gutters.

Their ruck-and-pass game gained momentum as the game wore on and they dominated the airwaves in a way they never had in the Republic. But a sub-par lineout trod water and South Africa’s scrum test was conspicuously absent, so it would be unwise to draw too many positive conclusions. The high and mighty in the All Blacks hierarchy will continue to be wary of it the truth he has enough breath in his body to dominate one more World Cup, before the dance of progress in the professional game finally leaves him behind.