Kieran Read on Rassie's F-Bombs, the Mind Games and the Third Test

The All Blacks lost the second test in Cape Town, but were they actually that bad?

Andy Rowe is joined by former All Blacks captain and two-time Rugby World Cup winner Kieran Read to break down a game that turned on two minutes at the start, and an aerial battle the All Blacks still can't win.

Read explains the untidy exit that had New Zealand seven points down inside two minutes, why the Springboks changed their defensive picture (14 in the line, nobody hunting the ruck) and what that means for the way the All Blacks attack. Plus the accuracy numbers: South Africa took 4.8 points from every 22 entry, New Zealand just 2.8 from nine.

There's the 2009 parallel (Matfield, box kicks and the series that changed how New Zealand played the game) and why the All Blacks are still catching high balls the old-school way. Pieter-Steph du Toit's 100th test. Then there's Rassie. The suit and tie, the team sheet handed over half an hour before kickoff, the F-bombs in the press conference and the complaint that the All Blacks are planting seeds in the media (from the man who put out an hour-long video on the referees during the Lions series). Read's take: "coaches have been doing this for a long time, but Rassie is the absolute king of it." Plus the scrum row it all came from: "we're not walking around, we're scrumming." And what changes for the third test, including Sam Darry, a six-two bench and where Rieko Ioane fits.

Over the Tasman, the Wallabies win 27-21 in Argentina, Les Kiss loosens the structure, with Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii on the bench — would you put him on the All Blacks wing to catch our high balls?

This episode is brought to you by Gallagher Insurance, your trusted insurance broker. The Gallagher Fearless Player of the Week goes to Leroy Carter.

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📑CHAPTERS

00:00 — Intro: did you get up and watch it?
00:25 — The fighter jets over Cape Town
01:14 — Seven points down in two minutes: the exit that cost us
02:35 — Score a try, miss the kickoff: where the momentum went
03:02 — "We looked good for long periods" — the line-out strike plays
05:00 — The Springboks' new picture: 14 in the line, nobody in the ruck
06:27 — Pieter-Steph du Toit's 100th test
07:56 — Gallagher Fearless Player of the Week: Leroy Carter
09:53 — Why the All Blacks brought Carter in
10:47 — The accuracy stat: 4.8 points per 22 entry vs 2.8
13:13 — 2009 all over again? Losing the aerial battle
16:12 — Do the All Blacks need a specialist in the air?
17:35 — Wallabies win 27-21 in Argentina
19:21 — What Les Kiss has changed
20:11 — Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii on the bench
21:28 — "Would you put him in the All Blacks?"
22:28 — Rassie in a suit and tie: has he lost his head?
23:04 — Naming the front row 30 minutes before kickoff
24:28 — Planting seeds for the referees — and the hour-long Lions video
25:53 — "We're not walking around, we're scrumming"
29:11 — Six collapses on our own ball — has Rassie got a point?
31:08 — George Bower's start
31:45 — Third test changes: Sam Darry and going six-two
36:43 — The little things that would make a big difference
38:54 — Where Rieko Ioane fits
41:11 — Damian McKenzie got his sprigs wrong
42:59 — Outro
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