---
title: "Rassie shrugs off All Blacks’ ‘slowing game’ claims as war of words intensifies"
description: "Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus has shrugged off the narrative coming out of New Zealand that the Springboks are slowing down the game."
type: "NewsArticle"
publisher: "Daily Maverick"
site: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za"
section: "MIND GAMES"
author: "Craig Ray"
author_url: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/author/craig-ray/"
canonical_url: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2026-08-17-rassie-shrugs-off-all-blacks-slowing-game-claims-as-war-of-words-intensifies/"
published: "2026-08-17T14:48:17"
updated: "2026-08-17T14:48:21"
lang: "en-ZA"
word_count: 914
---

# Rassie shrugs off All Blacks’ ‘slowing game’ claims as war of words intensifies

> Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus has shrugged off the narrative coming out of New Zealand that the Springboks are slowing down the game.

By Craig Ray · Published 17 August 2026, 16:48 SAST · Updated 17 August 2026, 16:48 SAST

## Content

Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus would be forgiven if he played the old Rage Against the Machine song Killing in the Name for this team before the first Test against the All Blacks at Ellis Park this Saturday.

The band’s frontman, Zack de la Rocha, rages in the 1993 hit, “And now you do what they told ya (now you’re under control)… f\*\*k you I won’t do what you tell me”, over and over.

The Boks won’t be changing their style to suit a certain narrative, put out in the media by the[likes of assistant coach Tana Umaga](https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2026-08-13-under-pressure-all-blacks-speed-the-game-up-campaign-rings-hollow/?dm_source=blocks-grid&dm_medium=card-link&dm_campaign=inform&dm_position=7) and then intensified through social media.

“My opinion is New Zealand’s played four matches and there’s certainly been a narrative out there, which is very technical around the speed of the game and the slowing down of the game,” Erasmus said at a media conference on Monday.

![Rugby-Rassie's rotations](https://cdn.dailymaverick.co.za/i/77kSz5-t8KR-Gcgtb6Z1MbZca3I=/200x100/smart/filters:strip_exif\(\)/file/attachments/orphans/TL_2587476_519893.jpg)

*Springbok fullback Damian Willemse during the Nations Championship match against Scotland at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria on 11 July 2026. (Photo: Floris van Schouwenburg / Gallo Images)*

“You can see on their social media, they are advocating this high-intensity, multiphase game, saying: ‘nobody can keep up with us.’ They are not hiding it.

“There are always three truths – New Zealand’s truth, the world’s truth, and our (the Boks’) truth. If you look at the last two games against New Zealand in Auckland and in Wellington, were those slow games?

“I mean, New Zealand beat us in the first one against Auckland (the All Blacks won 24-17) and protected their record there.

“Then we got a good one in the second one (the Boks won by a record 43-10). We try to find the balance so that when games become clutch and crunch, that you have a system that you can fall back onto if you need to.”

### No warnings

Springbok laws manager Jaco Peyper, a respected former Test referee, joined Erasmus to explain the finer details of what the reality is versus the perception of the Boks’ style. He also detailed how the feedback system with World Rugby works.

“At the World Rugby ‘shape of the game’ meeting at the beginning of the year, all the big technical issues were discussed. The things that come out of those meetings are what we call the key focus areas for referees.

“That’s basically the contract between refereeing and coaching. Coach your players to play this way, we’ll try and referee this way.

“The five games that we’ve (the Boks) have played, we’ve not had one piece of feedback warning that we’ve slowed down the game.

“Maybe they’ve (the All Blacks) have played against teams that are in pre-season mode. Maybe there’s something there, but we’ve certainly not got negative feedback around it.

“We expect to play in terms of those agreements between referees and coaches. And yes, the law is very clear.

“There are 30 seconds from the moment the referee puts his foot down to make a mark, whether it’s a scrum or lineout, to form the set piece. We adhere to that and we respect that.”

![Springbok laws and discipline adviser, former international referee Jaco Peyper. (Photo: Steve Haag Sports / Gallo Images)](https://cdn.dailymaverick.co.za/i/3YDrvGbxoBASOpnuFvdIdUXo5z8=/200x100/smart/filters:strip_exif\(\)/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/TL_2295301.jpg)

*Springbok laws and discipline adviser, former international referee Jaco Peyper. (Photo: Steve Haag Sports / Gallo Images)*

That means the Boks can take 29 seconds to form a lineout if they wish and the All Blacks can take 10 seconds to form it. Both are within the parameters of the law.

Erasmus then joined in the conversation.

“Another frustrating thing is what you do up until that lineout in those 30 seconds is our choice,” Erasmus said.

“You can pray if you want to, you can go down on your knees. If you want to idle, you can idle. There’s nothing in the law that says you can’t do that.”

Peyper hinted that the All Blacks slow the game down in different ways.

“I’ve had the privilege of being in Test match weeks with the All Blacks a lot. What a great team,” Peyper said.

“The narrative is about slowing down, but you can also slow the game down by continuously infringing at the breakdown or at the maul and break the game tempo there.

“The good thing is there’s proper, strong referees in these matches, and we are very clear on the guidelines. It’s up to the teams who are under pressure. They will probably try and slow the game down.”

![Rugby-Rennie Boks](https://cdn.dailymaverick.co.za/i/AF9FO9Kp65hr75_rFi2ZTrIhktA=/200x100/smart/filters:strip_exif\(\)/file/attachments/orphans/2264661681_231312.jpg)

*All Black head coach Dave Rennie. (Photo: Phil Walter / Getty Images)*

### Possession dictates how you play

While World Rugby issued new directives on how coaches can provide feedback to referees earlier this year, one of the changes was that coaches can no longer meet with referees before games.

Well, they can, but only if both sets of coaches agree. And that is unlikely to happen.

Erasmus said he expected All Black coach Dave Rennie to come up with some innovations that he had not revealed during their three wins on tour so far.

“Dave is a very sharp coach,” Erasmus said. “I coached against him for Munster against Glasgow and obviously he’s had our number a few times when coaching Australia (Rennie’s Wallabies beat the Boks three times in four meetings).

“I think the big battle is when they have the ball, they’ve got total control of what they do with the ball and when we have the ball, we’ve got total control of what we do with it.

“We can’t tell each other what you must do with the ball and I think people must accept that.” **DM**