“When you feel a bit of hurt and pain, you’ve still got to look at the things you did well. There were 60-odd minutes of influencing a Test exactly how we needed to. It’s about looking at that and saying ‘well done’ but being honest about where we need to be better,” Hansen said.

“There were a lot of positives if you look at our ability to find space, get around the South Africans and our defence was very strong in certain areas of the field. We influenced them around our lineout at times as well.

“Four tries in South Africa, essentially we had them on the ropes and we didn’t finish it.”

He wrote that if coach Scott Robertson was operating with the same freedom of selection as Springboks coach Rassie Erasmus, he could have started the Ellis Park Test with Shannon Frizell at blindside, Aaron Smith at halfback and Richie Mo’unga at No 10.

In contrast to the Boks, who pick players for their international team regardless of where they play club footy, the Kiwis only choose from domestic teams.

“The All Blacks weren’t just overpowered by a brutal and accurate Springboks side at Ellis Park, they were beaten by South Africa’s globally focused rugby system that grants them access to all their best players,” Paul wrote on Tuesday.

“There are multiple strands to explore to explain the 31-27 defeat the All Blacks suffered after leading 27-17, but all of them would lead back to one basic advantage the South Africans held – which was that they had greater strength in depth and were therefore able to make a more significant impact in the final quarter.

“Just as many threads again could be explored to determine why it is, again, that one simple reason explains everything – which is that unlike New Zealand, South Africa don’t kill a player’s Test career for signing an overseas contract.

“And the biggest takeout from the Ellis Park defeat is that New Zealand Rugby’s (NZR) insistence that the All Blacks’ eligibility laws remain fit for purpose was shown to be the self-destructive fallacy it is.

“Denying head coach Scott Robertson access to either Richie Mo’unga or Shannon Frizell – both currently based in Japan – makes no sense when considered against the wider context of NZR’s financial master plan of squeezing every dollar it can out of the All Blacks brand.

“The commercial strategy will soon collapse if the All Blacks’ win ratio stays at its current 66% level, and it is unfathomable that NZR continues to risk its entire financial future on the All Blacks succeeding, while imposing a selection restriction that is setting Robertson up to fail.”

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Boiling Boks, enraged All Black legends and Rassie fat shaming – just a normal week in rugby’s ugliest rivalry

The aftershocks of the Springboks’ thrilling Rugby Championship win over the All Blacks continue to rumble on with both nations in whinge mode over separate incidents from the clash – as well as an incident of apparent fat shaming aimed at Rassie Erasmus.

As the team’s gear up for a second match in Cape Town this weekend – where victory could secure South Africa’s first TRC title since 2019 – the bitterest rivalry in world rugby is in overdrive.

The Boks have shifted their usual team naming day from Tuesday to Thursday as they monitor the health of captain Siya Kolisi who was left with a badly bruised face from a contact with Sam Cane.

Cane avoided a card for the incident and the Boks have been evasive on the extent of Kolisi’s injury.

“It looks like a fracture. I’m not a medical doctor, but I think it’s a fracture,” coach Rassie Erasmus said after the match.

“The doc will have to look at Siya … he doesn’t normally look like this!”

Springboks scrum coach Daan Human avoided an update on the inspirational skipper on Tuesday, only saying the skipper will be given time to prove his fitness.

“So far, they are still busy assessing the possibility of him being available to for us in the week,” Human told reporters.

“We will see how he goes through this week. He’s important for us, but if he’s not [available], then next man in.”

The Boks were said to be privately seething that referee Andrew Brace – who also angered the All Blacks with a controversial decision for the hosts’ opening try – only awarded a penalty against Cane – who was red carded for a high shot in the World Cup final.

“It was a proper knock,” Human said on Tuesday.

“I can’t go into what the refs and the TMO saw. We’ve just seen what we’ve seen. Hopefully Siya can recover soon and be fit to play the game.

“It’s up to them what they decide, if it was a red card or a yellow card. I don’t think we will ever go into the ref’s decisions or World Rugby’s decisions on that. It’s in the past and we are looking forward to Saturday.”