The YE tour raises some doubts. In the RC we play NZ on softer fields but their softer fields. And the bone hard fields of the highveld suit the AB game. But what if we played in the NH and those muddy tracks?
Certainly the Boks were easier winners in the YE. Easier winners against common opponent France...and never really challenged as the ABs were in all three of their games. Part of that might be that NZ has become the team to beat, so they face highly motivated opposition.
But part of it is also that the Boks dominated the collisions in all their games, in a way the ABs couldn't. The pack HM is evolving could become the dominant factor in world rugby. The one strategic element that renders all the other finesse skills null and void.
I like where we are.
