New Zealand journalist identifies a huge thing the Springboks have that the All Blacks don’t
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The difference.
New Zealand rugby writer Gregor Paul believes the All Blacks could learn an important lesson from the Springboks after witnessing the two teams at close quarters during Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry.
Paul followed the tour throughout its six weeks in South Africa before travelling to Baltimore for the final Test, giving him a unique perspective on the enormous support surrounding Rassie Erasmus’ side.
While the Springboks ultimately won the series 3-1, it was something away from the field that left one of the biggest impressions on the New Zealand Herald writer.
Paul believes the Boks have succeeded in making people from across South Africa feel represented by the team in a way the All Blacks have yet to achieve in New Zealand.
“The South Africans have a better sense of their national identity and how it relates to the Springboks,” Paul wrote in The New Zealand Herald.
“But there is something deeper at play with the Boks. They have tapped into the entirety of their population in a way the All Blacks haven’t been able to.”
That connection was difficult to miss throughout the tour.
Huge crowds followed the teams across South Africa before tens of thousands of supporters packed into M&T Bank Stadium for the finale in the United States.
For Paul, however, the significance isn’t simply that the Springboks currently have a successful team that people want to watch.
He believes Rassie Erasmus and Siya Kolisi have helped establish a clear sense of what representing South Africa means, allowing supporters to identify with the team regardless of their background.
It’s an area where he believes New Zealand Rugby faces a different challenge.
The All Blacks remain one of the most recognisable brands in world sport and NZ Rugby has invested significantly in promoting the team digitally, but Paul questioned whether that alone can recreate the emotional attachment currently surrounding the Boks.
In fact, one of the things that struck him most was how little of the Springboks’ identity appears manufactured.
“The Boks don’t have a content team or content strategy – there is an old university friend of Erasmus’ embedded with a camera – but there is no clutter or marketing narrative laid over the top of the team,” he wrote.
Instead, Paul believes much of their appeal has developed naturally from the culture Erasmus has established and the meaning the players attach to representing their country.
That, rather than simply copying South Africa’s marketing or rugby structures, is where he believes New Zealand may have something to learn.
“They are becoming a great team and maybe NZ Rugby needs to see the simplicity of their set-up, the clarity of their mission, and the power the Springboks extract from playing for something so much bigger than themselves.”
