Be warned: the Kiwis are back

September is going to be Super. The Springboks in New Zealand, versus the All Blacks at Eden Park, Auckland, and the following weekend in Wellington.

The world’s best against each other and the opportunity for the greatest Springboks of the modern era to write one more chapter to a book filled with legacy.

But be warned: The Kiwis are back.

This is not the soft touch that got rolled by Argentina in Australia and in Wellington a year ago. Super Rugby Pacific 2025 is the real deal. I have written consistently about it this year.

The New Zealanders have been impressive, as teams and as individuals. If Scott Robertson gets his selections right, can reward form, and be unbiased in his picks, then the All Blacks will walk with a strut and play with an even bigger presence.

There will be an aura about the men in black again — the way it should always be.

Delicious starter

The Springboks vs All Blacks is rugby’s greatest rivalry, and back-to-back Test matches in New Zealand in September is the most delicious starter for 2026’s entrée of three Tests and eight matches by the All Blacks in South Africa.

The Boks, in 2030, will return the favour with an eight-match tour of New Zealand, which includes a three-Test series.

Super Rugby often has been ridiculed for being basketball — end-to-end tries and high scoring — but the quarterfinal in Hamilton between league winners, the Chiefs,  and defending champions, the Blues, was every bit a Test match, in quality and intensity.

The Blues won 20-19, with an 83rd minute try converted by Beauden Barrett. The attributes that define Test rugby and play-offs were all on display. 

The Chiefs made just 42 tackles in a first half in which they enjoyed 80% territory and 70% passion. The lead was just 9-3 and they could have been a point behind had Barrett cleanly gathered his kick-through for a try.

Clinical kicking game

Barrett made amends with the final kick of the game and the veteran was inspirational throughout. He kept the Blues competitive with a clinical kicking game and ensured they attacked in the right areas.

Chiefs’ No 10 Damian McKenzie has been the form flyhalf throughout the season, but play-off matches are the definitive ones, and Barrett overshadowed his All Blacks rival.

The Blues made 132 tackles in the first half and missed just eight. The tackle efficiency from both teams was 95%. The discipline was outstanding from both, and Angus Gardner controlled the match with composure. 

TMO interventions were minimal and the touch judges, or assistant referees to some, kept to themselves. It was bliss and 83 very cool minutes of rugby.

Chiefs remain in the semifinals, courtesy of being the highest seeded “lucky loser”, but they lose their league top ranking to the Crusaders, should the two teams advance to the final.

Van Graan’s great season

South African coach Johann van Graan’s wonderful season with Bath continued with a home semifinal victory against Bristol’s Bears. 

Bath won 34-20 after trailing 13-6 at half-time and, in the second half, showed the class that saw them beat Lyon in the EPCR Challenge Cup final a fortnight ago.

Bath, should they win the June 14 final at Twickenham, would have completed an historic club treble in two domestic titles and the Challenge Cup.

When Van Graan joined Bath from Munster, the club were basement dwellers in the Premiership and had shipped 64 points to Saracens. In the past three seasons, he has taken them to eighth, second and first in the league, won the domestic knockout competition, won the Challenge Cup and they are a week away from winning the Premiership League final.

Frans Ludeke, coach of the Kubota Spears in Japan, lost in the final last Sunday, with Malcolm Marx also a losing finalist, but Marx was one of three South Africans included in the Premiership Team of the Season.

Seven South Africans made the URC Team of the Season and the other three, led by Bath’s Thomas du Toit, made the Premiership Team of the Season.