McGregor suspended

Erasmus regrets several of the substitutions he made late in the test in Pretoria, the Springboks could have inflicted successive losses on the world champions.

Next year the Springboks and All Blacks will meet just once, with the Rugby Championship pared back to accommodate the World Cup.

Then it’s on to Yokohama. As the Springboks proved in 2015, when they rebounded from their early loss to Japan to advance, and eventually succumbed 20-18 to the All Blacks in a nail-biting semifinal, the good teams don’t curl up when faced with adversity. But it’s always nice to take the easier path. Ireland won’t be there to provide any comfort.

They certainly never did when they last met the All Blacks on neutral soil in Chicago. It was 40-29 that day. To the men in green. Conor McGregor has been handed a onemonth ban by the UFC on medical grounds following his loss to Khabib Nurmagomedov at UFC 229. The Irishman was tapped out in the fourth round of their lightweight championship bout in Las Vegas after Nurmagomedov administered a rear naked choke. McGregor’s medical suspension for a month by the Nevada State Athletic Commission comes as no surprise. It is standard for someone beaten up in defeat and McGregor took some severe punishment in the second round, before submitting to the choke hold from the Russian, looking exhausted.