Who’s hot and who’s not: Springbok ‘snarl’ returns but F-bomb Rassie ‘needs tap on the shoulder’
Who's Hot and Who's Not: Springboks lock Eben Etzebeth, left, and head coach Rassie Erasmus
It’s time for our Monday wrap of who has their name in lights and who is making the headlines for all the wrong reasons after the weekend.
THEY’RE ON FIRE!
Springboks: Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry needed them to fire a riposte and they did, levelling the four-Test series at one-all with their deserved 33-26 win on Saturday in Cape Town. It certainly wasn’t polished, as reflected in how they finished on the wrong side of the try count for the second successive weekend, but the snarl that went missing in Johannesburg was defiantly back.
It was especially reflected in the likes of South African men’s caps holder Eben Etzebeth and centurion duo Damian de Allende and Pieter-Steph du Toit rolling their sleeves up and topping the tackle count along with Jesse Kriel and Malcolm Marx. No way were the All Blacks going to be allowed to win two Saturdays in a row with this collection of brilliant veterans in the mood. It was also good to see Siya Kolisi enjoying his try celebrations, a timely reminder that he still has a major role to play with the Springboks at the age of 35 despite his recent rotten luck with injury.
Cheslin Kolbe: No Springbok ultra would have bet the house on the winger becoming a dead-eyed Mr Reliable off the kicking tee and decisively putting the boot in on the All Blacks last Saturday. Before 2026, he was very much a ‘break glass in case of emergency’ option. It was how he got his first shot at it in 2022 away to Ireland in Dublin, taking over mid-game after Damian Willemse encountered accuracy issues.
However, an opportunity to become the real dependable deal materialised at the start of the year, and he landed five from seven kicks (10 points) in the Nations Championship win over England. This was followed by four from four (11 points) against the All Blacks in Johannesburg, but his seven-from-seven, 18-point contribution was immaculate, highlighting that even at the age of 32, the best players are willing to learn and finesse their skills. Throwing a dig was also a fresh skill unveiled, aiming one at Leroy Carter at the DHL Stadium, but the less said about that development, the better.
Fans call on Cheslin Kolbe to face punishment following ‘punching’ incident in Cape Town
Les Kiss: You have to be careful about the value of winning streaks at Test level. Look at how the UK media were swooning over Steve Borthwick’s England at the start of the year when a flawed win over Wales left them with a 12-game winning streak. It was fool’s gold, as we quickly learned, and the Six Nations ended with calls for Borthwick to be sacked after his team’s withering collapse.
It’s Australia who are now building their way into this type of nosebleed territory, winning four matches in a row for the first time since 2021, three since Kiss took on the head coaching role from Joe Schmidt, who endured a six-match losing run before the win over Italy in his farewell outing. Saturday’s 27-21 success away to Argentina was clunky, but a team that has lost more than it has won in recent times won’t care. Their revival is certainly welcome, and the new coach’s long-term hope is that the knives don’t come out, as they did in England for Borthwick, when he does encounter some turbulence.
Carter Gordon: A situation that enormously shackled the Wallabies’ progress under Schmidt was his revolving door at No.10. Having to recall James O’Connor from the Test wilderness last year highlighted how desperate the situation had become, but Kiss is now revelling in having the 25-year-old Gordon back in union and firing.
It said a lot about his initial experience in the game that he packed it in for a stint in rugby league, but having spent the 2026 Super Rugby Pacific season playing under Kiss at the Reds, he has now shown in two successive starts his potential at Test level to make the fly-half jumper his own. The Wallabies have been crying out for a conductor to build their team around. Have they finally got their man?
The Lions: The Johannesburg franchise has tumbled down the South African pecking order in recent years, their travails in the United Rugby Championship a far cry from their hat-trick of Super Rugby final appearances between 2016 and 2018. However, the green shoots of recovery were there for all to see in their run to this year’s URC quarter-finals, and they have now gone into the history books as the franchise side to run the All Blacks the closest on the Greatest Rivalry tour.
Last Tuesday’s match provided a feast of entertainment, providing ample evidence that non-Test tour matches can be terrific, and the Lions have since roared again, qualifying for the Currie Cup semi-finals. That is a good reflection on the strength in depth that now exists at the club given that the Sharks, Bulls and Stormers all failed to get their back-up teams qualified for the last four.
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François Cros: Money talks in France and that is a good thing. Rather than the dosh being confined to just a few clubs and the top players getting stockpiled, Lyon’s signing last week of Cros, the French international back-rower, was a reminder that Toulouse can still be given a bloody nose even though they have won the last four Top 14 titles.
Cros’ decision to head to Lyon for the 2027/28 season follows Thomas Ramos’ agreement to join Racing next year, an exodus that has upset Toulouse boss Ugo Mola, who feels it is a failure that these two stellar players won’t finish their careers at their boyhood club. Their impending exits show that the transfer market is alive and well in France and the players are reaping the rewards.
COLD AS ICE!
F-bomb Rassie: Saturday evening in Cape Town certainly wasn’t the Springboks head coach’s finest hour, with his mask slipping and F-bombs exploding after he took exception to Dave Rennie’s accusation that South Africa were ‘walking around’. No one can question Erasmus’ coaching genius and his never-ending ways of looking at the game differently. Saturday’s stunt, replacing his starting front row in the lead-up to kick-off due to the improved weather in Cape Town, was a canny example of the way he operates.
However, he needs a tap on the shoulder this week from SA Rugby president Mark Alexander to remind him of the need for decorum at his media appearances. Erasmus can feel aggrieved all he wants, but there is a way to put his disagreements across, and it isn’t F-bombing at a media gig with the eyes of the rugby world watching.
Argentina: We could have a jab at the All Blacks and include them in this Cold As Ice! section, but the reality is they only lost the second Test by seven points and scored more tries than the Springboks, so there is no reason for a panic button to be pressed in a series where they will feel every confidence of retaking the lead next weekend back in Johannesburg.
Argentina, on the other hand, are certainly becoming a troubled outfit, with Saturday’s loss to Australia another deflating example of how things are not stitching together under Felipe Contepomi at home. The six-point loss can be added to other local matches that have gotten away on them in recent months, including losing to South Africa by seven, England by four and Scotland by nine. For whatever reason, they just don’t look comfortable playing in front of their own fans, and it’s hurting.
Chile-Uruguay: The Americas Rugby Championship got underway at the weekend, but it has attracted attention for all the wrong reasons as an all-in brawl ignited when the referee was speaking to the respective Chile and Uruguay captains. The match, which was being played on a pudding of a pitch, had stopped to deal with the consequences of a Chilean player getting injured in a tackle and being unable to continue, resulting in a red card for Uruguayan Joaquín Myszka.
But the acrimonious matter didn’t end there as a brawl broke out when the captains traded insults with the referee after the red card was brandished. When the fighting eventually stopped, the card was back out and both skippers were sent off. These are minnow rugby countries crying out for positive press to promote the sport, yet they are now in the dock for the brawl of Talcahuano.
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Jack Crowley: When Ireland were celebrating their Triple Crown success last March over Scotland in Dublin, the feeling was that the Munster No.10 had taken a decisive step forward in his positional dual with Sam Prendergast and was now in pole position to drive on towards Rugby World Cup 2027. Rugby, though, can be a cruel sport, and so it has proven for the 26-year-old.
He managed just three games back at his club before succumbing to what was described in June as a blood vessel issue in the back of his leg. There was no indication at the time that it would be a long-term thing, but that was confirmed last week, with Munster admitting he won’t play again until 2027, paving the way for Prendergast to continue as the Ireland 10.
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