How Boks bossed July window without showing their hand

OPINION: The Springboks have won three Tests and bolstered their depth without showing their tactical hand ahead of the all-important series against the All Blacks, writes Jon Cardinelli.

Earlier this year, Bok coach Rassie Erasmus sat down with the media to outline his plans and priorities for the 2026 Test season.

*Also read: Player Ratings: South Africa

The 2027 World Cup remains South Africa’s biggest priority, as Erasmus’ side will have the chance to claim a third-successive title when they travel to Australia next year.

Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry will demand their immediate attention in 2026, as they look to win the inaugural series against the All Blacks and strengthen the mental hold on their arch-rivals.

While talking about the 2026 Test schedule, Erasmus suggested that the Nations Championship – another new tournament – was simply not as important.

At the time, it seemed that Erasmus might sacrifice one or two games in the name of long-term development, and that one of the other leading teams would surge to the top of the Nations Championship standings as a result.

But the first phase of the Nations Championship has come and gone, and for all their commitment to development and experimentation, the Boks have emerged as the top-ranked team.

While France and the Boks finished the first phase of the competition at the head of the respective conferences, South Africa sits at the top of a combined log, with a maximum of 15 log points and a significant points-difference of +81.

Don’t get me wrong, these Nations Championship performances and results are worthy of applause – at least in isolation.

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The stats suggest they are hitting their attacking peak – averaging 43 points and seven tries across Tests against England, Scotland and Wales this July.

That they have racked up these numbers while using 43 players – more than any other team in the Nations Championship – is all the more impressive.

And yet, the recent performances have lacked the polish and quality that was so characteristic in the latter phases of a landmark 2025 season.

Some have highlighted the soft moments and lapses as a cause for long-term concern.

But given the group’s commitment to their long-term development project, the Boks were never going to be at their cohesive best in the Nations Championship matches in South Africa.

Now, it says something for the quality of Erasmus’ planning and management when an experimental side can average more than 40 points across three consecutive Tests and emerge as the leading side in a global tournament.

But perhaps it was the quality of the performances rather than the results that Erasmus intended to sacrifice during this July block.

The Boks won all three matches to extend their winning run to 11 Tests, and Erasmus got some answers regarding new players and combinations – with the upcoming All Blacks series and the 2027 World Cup in mind.

Was he ever going to show his true tactical hand in these games, and provide the All Blacks with the opportunity to dissect South Africa’s strengths and weaknesses ahead of the Tests next month?

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Six weeks ago, Erasmus picked a wider squad and signalled his intent to rotate his selections.

Few could have predicted that he would chop and change to such an extent – and, for example, that he would use three different starting halfback combinations across the three Tests.

While he obtained valuable answers regarding individual players – newcomer Vusi Moyo made a promising start in Durban, while Yaqeen Ahmed shone for South Africa ‘A’ before guiding the Junior Boks to the world title in Tbilisi this past Saturday – he always intended to reinstate one of his best players at a later stage.

Throughout the Nations Championship, Erasmus provided the media updates about Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu’s ankle injury.

The latest is that the Stormers flyhalf should be fit for the next game against Argentina – and more importantly, should be back in the No.10 jersey in the series against the All Blacks.

It’s worth pausing to consider how the Boks dominated to such a degree this July without their most devastating attacking weapon, and how they should offer something different when fronting the All Blacks in four massive games that will define their 2026 season.

The Boks showed some improvement over the recent matches, particularly around the line-out and maul, and it would be unfair to say that they went through the motions without trying something new.

The scorelines and results point to good planning, and it would have delighted the coaches to see specific ploys and tactics paying off against certain opponents.

Whether we’ve seen the Boks at their brutal, balanced best, of course, is another story.

Erasmus and his assistants will have particular plans for each of the four Tests against the All Blacks.

It’s highly unlikely that the Boks will stick to one approach, given that the conditions on the highveld differ to those in Cape Town, and to those in far-flung Baltimore, where the fourth Test will be staged.

The All Blacks have made an impressive start under coach Dave Rennie, and are the only other team in the Nations Championship that has won all three of their matches.

Their attack has impressed, but one wonders if Rennie will have enough time to develop other aspects of their game – as well as their depth – before a gruelling physical and tactical examination in the Greatest Rivalry series.

The Boks are holding something back ahead of those matches, out of respect for the All Blacks, and possibly for Rennie himself.

Like Erasmus, Rennie is recognised for his technical and man-management strengths, and nobody in the Bok coaching group will have forgotten how he masterminded three wins against South Africa between 2021 and 2022.

It would be a big ask for Rennie to revive the All Blacks in the space of a few months and orchestrate a Greatest Rivalry series win against the Boks.

But Erasmus and company should take nothing for granted ahead of those matches, and should avoid showing their tactical hand, even in the coming game against Argentina.

Come the first Test at Ellis Park on August 22, we will finally see what Erasmus has been building.

And going by that performance and result, we will have a better idea of how far this team has come, or what they need to address in order to realise their long-term goals.