A few thousand people turned up at DHL Stadium in Cape Town to welcome a touring side that has not played a Test series in South Africa for 30 years. Most of them were wearing black.
The All Blacks began their Rugby's Greatest Rivalry tour with a public welcome event rather than a training run, and the reception caught the squad off guard. Dave Rennie, in South Africa for the first time as All Blacks coach, said the turnout reset his expectations.
"It's incredible. I know our players often talked about the support that all the Super Rugby teams used to get here and the All Blacks get here," Rennie said. "It's an awesome place to start our campaign in Cape Town and the support is incredible."
The affection has deep and uncomfortable roots. Cape Town is home to South Africa's largest coloured community, a significant portion of which has backed New Zealand sides for generations — a habit formed during apartheid, when the Springboks selected white players only.
Codie Taylor, captaining the side for the opening weeks of the tour while Ardie Savea takes a delayed break, had been warned it would be loud and still underestimated it.
"I was actually, like a lot of our media staff and marketing staff had said, you'd be blown away when you come out and that was exactly the way it was," Taylor said. "We walked out and there were a few thousand fans screaming and it was a bit of a sea of black in terms of the jerseys and stuff they're wearing. The fans over here are just a whole other level."
Forwards coach Jason Ryan put the crowd at around 5,000 and said the first priority was mundane. "It's just about getting the body clock right, to be fair. You settle into the hotel and find out where the local coffee shop is, go for a bit of a wander," Ryan said. "There's a lot of energy in the crowd and a lot of support which has always been the case in Cape Town."
The itinerary is unforgiving: the Stormers in Cape Town on Friday, the Sharks at Kings Park on 11 August, the Bulls at Loftus Versfeld on 15 August and the Lions at Ellis Park on 25 August, wrapped around Tests at Ellis Park (22 August), DHL Stadium (29 August), FNB Stadium (5 September) and M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore (12 September). World Rugby has appointed four referees across the tour — Matthew Carley, Nika Amashukeli, Angus Gardner and Karl Dickson — with Dickson in the middle for the Stormers opener.
Rennie is aware the schedule leaves little room to breathe, with two groups sometimes playing and training on the same day.
"We've got to make sure that we embrace the country and embrace the challenge and you've got to get your head out of the footy at times too, so we'll definitely make sure that we enjoy a bit of downtime," he said.
Taylor, meanwhile, has been openly nostalgic about facing South African club sides again. He last played the Stormers in Cape Town with the Crusaders in 2019, a 19-19 draw.
"It sucks not being able to come over here for Super Rugby. I used to love these tours, love the contest that we have against all the clubs," Taylor told reporters. "It's a different brand of rugby to what we get back home. It's big physical men, great set-piece sides, but then also backs that can burn you pretty quick."
He is unlikely to feature against the Stormers after picking up a calf problem during the Nations Championship win over Ireland. "I just had a wee tweak to my calf. It wasn't great, but these things happen, and I'm tracking really well personally, and should be back pretty soon," he said.
Not everyone watching from home is convinced the touring group has its balance right. Former All Blacks captain Kieran Read, speaking on The Good, The Bad & The Rugby Australia & New Zealand podcast, argued New Zealand are leaning too heavily on their tight five to carry.
"We need to utilise our back five in terms of our forward pack to carry the ball," Read said. "At the moment, I'm seeing Sam Darry carrying the ball a lot, Tupou Vaa'i carrying a little bit, and I'm probably not seeing Ardie carrying the ball enough in positions where he can make an influence."
Read's concern is that a plan built around one young lock will not survive contact with the Springboks. "Sam Darry has probably been our best player in the forwards over these three Tests. Against the South Africans, they're going to double-team him, and he probably doesn't have that in his game to be able to be doing that all game," he said. "Against a great defence, which is what they have, we need to have our best ball carriers carrying; otherwise we will get shunted back, and we'll get put under pressure."
Zinzan Brooke, whose 45-metre drop goal in Pretoria in 1996 secured the last New Zealand series win in South Africa, told RugbyPass the tour is winnable but sees the risk elsewhere — in a 44-man squad, far bigger than any World Cup group, fragmenting over six weeks away.
"It is feasible for the All Blacks to win the series but it comes back to that first Test which is absolutely critical," Brooke said. "There are eight games and my attitude is that they are eight Test matches on this tour. The Springboks have set a benchmark and it's all about knocking them off."
