All Blacks icon John Kirwan has served up a rather peculiar hot take on New Zealand’s warm-up fixtures against South African franchises during the Greatest Rivalry tour, and frankly, it’s riddled with holes.
The visitors have marched through their preparation matches with predictable dominance, a hard fought 38-21 triumph over the Stormers where late tries flattered the scoreline, a comprehensive 54-0 demolition of a youthful Sharks outfit, and a commanding 50-19 victory against the Bulls.
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But rather than acknowledge the obvious context, Kirwan has spun a conspiracy theory that would make even the most ardent rugby forum poster blush.
Speaking on the Rugby Rivals podcast alongside Springbok legend Victor Matfield, the former wing accused Rassie Erasmus of orchestrating an elaborate deception, deliberately withholding Springbok players and issuing tactical instructions to franchise coaches.
“I think it’s a bit more of a conspiracy theory out there,” Kirwan admitted, before diving headfirst into exactly that.
“Rassie has told those provincial sides not to play anything like the Springboks. We haven’t even seen high kicks. We haven’t even seen kicking to the corner and a lot of mauling. There is no resemblance to what we are expecting.”
The elephant in the room
What Kirwan conveniently fails to mention, not even once, is that all three South African franchises are deep in pre-season mode. Revolutionary stuff, really.
Perhaps even more bizarrely, after calling out the Springbok mastermind, Kirwan then admitted he’d do precisely the same thing.
“It’s pretty sad for the relationship and for the tour. I get it, I would do exactly the same if I was Rassie and not release the players,” he conceded.
“But it is a bit disappointing for the South African public, I believe, because they’re not turning up to watch. You turn up to watch a spectacle.”
Missing the point entirely
Here’s where Kirwan fundamentally misreads the South African rugby psyche. The local public knows exactly what it craves, a Springbok series victory over the All Blacks. Full stop. That’s the only spectacle that truly matters.
His comments feed into the narrative emanating from New Zealand that positions the All Blacks as rugby’s moral guardians, the keepers of how the game “should” be played, whilst everyone else apparently needs lessons in entertainment.
It’s a mindset that’s woefully out of step with modern rugby’s tactical diversity. The sport accommodates multiple playing philosophies, and come Saturday’s opening Test at Ellis Park, we’ll witness a proper clash of contrasting styles.
That’s when the talking stops and the real spectacle begins.
Kick-off is at 17:10.
