Sep 8, 2026 · 50 min · 8 segments
Before a ball was kicked in this series, Jim Hamilton said the All Blacks could beat South Africa in one Test — but they would not win a series. Three Tests later, that is precisely what has happened…
Jim HamiltonGuest
John SmitHost
George GreganHost
There's a lot of talk about the scrum from both coaches, from both sets of coaches in the lead up to the test match was actually penalty try awarded just before halftime, which was, I think, a bit of a stamp on who had the dominant scrum.
And I've got to quote Dan Newman, the Springbok scrum coach, when he just said, all I want is legal, straightforward dominance.
But as I said, 36-minute mark, penalty try, awarded to the Springboks, 12 all at halftime, two penalties given just after halftime at the scrum and big momentum shifts.
But Jim, what was your take on how the Springboks, you've used the word weaponised before, their bench.
Yeah, so on the scrum specifically, and I spoke about this on the Big Jim show that I did after the game, the review show, there's a little plug there, because we were on a group chat with the Rugby Pod lads, right? And we know that Dan Bigger is one of the great analysts in the game as well, but doesn't really understand much about the scrum like most people don't, unless you're an expert like me.
But I said on the group chat, it was like, Biggs was like, oh, this is the moment, right? This is like a massive moment in the game.
And I was like, oh, I think the All Blacks will be all right because they've got a decent scrum now.
And John, you know, again, because you've been in the middle of scrums before that have been really dominant, you know, you're one of the main men, if not the main man in that front row.
When you have dominance like that in a facet of the game, like the scrum, which is a physical confrontation, it's eight on eight, there's an old school feel to it.
The psychology part of that is a real shift, right? So, yes, you have the narrative in the lead-up to the game.
And obviously the referees, Nika Amashkeli and Angus Gardner the week before, they're privy to all of this stuff, right? Whether or not they listen to the podcast or the media, I'm sure there's parts of them that do.
You know, certainly the touch judges and, you know, the referee kind of fraternity are listening to these things.
And they want to probably get opinions from experts like Smitty and, you know, You know, what's Dave Rennie saying in the lead-up? Of course they do, right? Because that's all part of the story in the sport that we play.
There's a lot of talk about the scrum from both coaches, from both sets of coaches in the lead up to the test match was actually penalty try awarded just before halftime, which was, I think, a bit of a stamp on who had the dominant scrum.
And I've got to quote Dan Newman, the Springbok scrum coach, when he just said, all I want is legal, straightforward dominance.
But as I said, 36-minute mark, penalty try, awarded to the Springboks, 12 all at halftime, two penalties given just after halftime at the scrum and big momentum shifts.
But Jim, what was your take on how the Springboks, you've used the word weaponised before, their bench.
Yeah, so on the scrum specifically, and I spoke about this on the Big Jim show that I did after the game, the review show, there's a little plug there, because we were on a group chat with the Rugby Pod lads, right? And we know that Dan Bigger is one of the great analysts in the game as well, but doesn't really understand much about the scrum like most people don't, unless you're an expert like me.
But I said on the group chat, it was like, Biggs was like, oh, this is the moment, right? This is like a massive moment in the game.
And I was like, oh, I think the All Blacks will be all right because they've got a decent scrum now.
And John, you know, again, because you've been in the middle of scrums before that have been really dominant, you know, you're one of the main men, if not the main man in that front row.
When you have dominance like that in a facet of the game, like the scrum, which is a physical confrontation, it's eight on eight, there's an old school feel to it.
The psychology part of that is a real shift, right? So, yes, you have the narrative in the lead-up to the game.
And obviously the referees, Nika Amashkeli and Angus Gardner the week before, they're privy to all of this stuff, right? Whether or not they listen to the podcast or the media, I'm sure there's parts of them that do.
You know, certainly the touch judges and, you know, the referee kind of fraternity are listening to these things.
And they want to probably get opinions from experts like Smitty and, you know, You know, what's Dave Rennie saying in the lead-up? Of course they do, right? Because that's all part of the story in the sport that we play.
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