As a young player, I made many mistakes. I was very lucky to play with quality individuals in some great teams, tour with the Springboks, win some Cups, and be part of fantastic campaigns. As soon as I did anything that wasn’t related to just performing on the field, I could feel the cracks come in. I could genuinely feel the difference in my performance.

I had a very ambitious and excitable agent at the time, one of the first players to have an agent in the country.

He put me down as the face or representative for almost anything. Some big and fantastic and long-lasting deals like adidas and others, but some just for short-term money.

Appearances and dinners and those kinds of things.

It really took my focus away.

Dreaming back on those days while watching two amazing, high-paced and intense rugby matches, it made me realize that Dave Rennie and Rassie Erasmus are locked in a PR battle trying to allow the players to do just that.

It’s been amazing to watch.

Everybody piles in! Did we scrum straight? Did we tackle high? Did they influence the referee? Did we do something incorrect?

The conjecture and the conversations all around the game haven’t really attacked any of the players on the park. South Africa have had some injury-forced changes. That’s about the sum total of it affecting the players.

That’s a real doff of the cap to these maestros who are the coaches, because they’ve taken all the pressure off those guys and allowed them to get into the zone so that they can perform. Maybe that’s why the standard has been so high.

Maybe that’s why these games have been so intense.

Maybe that’s why they’re the best coaches in the world.

There are some stats that have come out about the total playing time of this Springbok squad in comparison to New Zealand.

Erasmus was quite blunt in saying we’ve been able to rotate the squad enough that the players certainly aren’t going to be overtly tired from a few extra minutes on the field.

Obviously, there are physical clashes and extras from players who’ve come in and made the difference or made the extra minutes up, but in general, I think they had a fairly healthy average rest over their rivals – who, to counter this, are younger on average in age.

The difference in a Test match could be:

• one side step too far or too short
• one intercept that doesn’t go to hand or does, because you’ve got that extra breath of air
• one tackle that you miss or make, depending on your physical status

So, I think a huge element of this will be how fresh we can keep the South African players that know each other so well.

Comparatively to Erasmus, Rennie’s silence this week has been deafening – it really is a PR match made in heaven and the heavyweight coaches with the best players and resources are playing their own games too – lovely to watch!

We have to respect the fact that this young New Zealand team have really found each other and are able to attack from almost anywhere. They’ve used the width of the field better than us. They’ve used the interpassing between forwards and backs better than us, and they’ve managed to escape and score tries because of that width and because of that attacking mindset.

It’s something that South Africa will have to continue to counter.

I saw Jesse Kriel making a real effort on the ‘outside in’ defence, particularly in the dying minutes of the game.

As was PSDT, but it was Andre Esterhuizen’s last-minute steal on the far side of the field that meant that we could still win that match with a comfortable seven points (even though New Zealand had been in possession for a long, long time).

All-out effort, all in, for all of the match – that would mean victory is possible for one side, and only a draw possible for the other.

Then to Baltimore!!

Phew I’m already excited and nervous for this one!

On the entertainment and fun side – how low can you go has been the meme of the week – well done to the sponsors and partners that found themselves on the front pages of newspapers all over the world! Open more flight schools in South Africa – the pilots are outstanding and daredevil brave!!

Good to see the ex-players and pundits piling in to the conversation points and making the tour the most talked about in recent history as well, but more importantly for me, good to see all of them enjoying themselves.

Great to see Justin Marshall, Schalk Burger, John Smit, Hanyani Shimangi, Andrew Mehrtens and those kinds of guys talking about the Buffalo club, where people aren’t allowed to have a beer in their right hand and posting pics outing the individuals who’ve made the mistake. Hilarious.

Good to see Dan Carter and Richie McCaw and Beaver running up Table Mountain to start their day in Cape Town.

They should all get across to The Alexander Estate on the edge of the Noordhoek Village, it’s breathtakingly beautiful and has the best wine and hosting on the peninsula!

Good to see people like Bakkies Botha hosting ex-players and fans in the South African bush on safari with some beers and, no doubt, a brandy or two, but engaged in conversations that mean so much around the game.

Good to see ex-players in the commentary team spending time with their old rivals.

Sean Fitzpatrick, Zinzan Brooke, enjoying South Africa, enjoying their time and seeing their old foes on the field, but certainly talking it up off it. Wonderful to see the nature of rugby and the relationships that it conjures up all around the world.