The talking is over. The teams are named. Now, we go to war.

The Springboks and All Blacks meet at Ellis Park in the opening Test of Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry, and Xola Ntshinga and Simnikiwe Xabanisa are joined by Stormers assistant coach Rito Hlungwani to break down exactly where New Zealand can be hurt.

Having helped devise the Stormers’ plan against the All Blacks, Rito identifies three key pressure points: the contestable kicking game, the scrum and the maul — and explains why the Boks must allow the “slow poison” to take effect.

But South Africa’s game is about far more than scrum, maul and kick. Rito explains how Rassie Erasmus uses the kicking game to create chaos, recover possession and unleash the Boks’ runners against an unstructured defence.

We also unpack both team selections:

🇿🇦 Has Rassie finally picked his strongest Springbok XV?
🔥 Is Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu ready for the biggest Test of his career?
💥 Why Paul de Villiers could be crucial
💣 The extraordinary power sitting on the Bok bench
🇳🇿 Why the All Blacks have gone big up front
⚡ How Cam Roigard changes New Zealand’s attack
🧱 What’s happened to the Springbok defence
🌱 And the remarkable rise of Zachary Porthen

New Zealand appear ready to fight fire with fire. South Africa believe they have the weapons to overwhelm them.

And then we make our predictions.

Rito: Springboks by around 15.
Xola: Boks by seven or eight.

Four Tests. Two great rugby nations. One rivalry that needs absolutely no introduction.

SIYA EMPINI.

The battle begins.