JOHANNESBURG, South Africa -- Dave Rennie versus Rassie Erasmus continues to be the sideshow to the main Greatest Rivalry series event.
Depending on your viewpoint or, more aptly, where your allegiance lies, the coaching barbs and banter is highly entertaining, unnecessary or sits somewhere in between.
There's multiple levels to this standoff.
Let's start with Rennie.
The vastly experienced mentor has seen it all in his two decades coaching. He's led teams in New Zealand, Australia, Scotland and Japan. He's savoured success. He's been fired. He's bounced back. And in a little over two months, he's rebuilt the All Blacks to rattle the cage of the world's best on home soil.
Rennie is not intimidated by Erasmus. He respects the Springboks for their success and the historic significance their rivalry with the All Blacks garners. But he's not about to take a backward step.
Few coaches in world rugby would publicly engage and, indeed, enrage, a tactical tête-à -tête with the fiery Erasmus.
If it benefits the All Blacks, though, and if it triggers Erasmus, Rennie is more than comfortable holding his ground on a belief he genuinely holds.
The main, on-going spat between Rennie and Erasmus centres on the "walking around" accusation levelled at the Boks scrum.
The Boks deservedly claimed the second Test in Cape Town to square the series last weekend. Yet Erasmus, the winning coach, was so agitated by Rennie's continued scrum critiques that he blew his stack at the post-match press conference in a rant that stunned everyone in attendance.
The All Blacks maintain the Boks front row is stepping left to illegally target their tighthead prop. The Boks believe the All Blacks are attempting to manipulate referees to dilute their greatest weapon.
The truth, as with most emotive, often one-eyed, rugby debates, likely resides in the middle.
Rugby is built on dark arts. It's open to interpretation. For every clipped apparent offence, a counter, contrasting view can be presented from the next movement.
This is why, amid a cesspit of social media rage bait, the fan frenzy on both sides of the divide continues.
Erasmus is no holier than thou character when it comes to influencing officials. He knows better than anyone how to play that game. He was, after all, banned from stadiums by World Rugby for almost a year after his 62-minute video vilifying Australian referee Nic Berry.
It's impossible to escape the irony of the Boks crying foul after they rolled out former Test referee Jaco Peyper - and proceeded to complain about the All Blacks' breakdown and maul tactics - in the week leading into the first Test in response to Rennie suggesting South African franchise teams attempted to slow the pace of the previous tour games.
"My frustration wasn't so much about his opinion, but when an opinion gets presented as fact," Erasmus said of the scrum claims after naming his initial team, which he often changes late in the week, for the third Test.
"There are now clear protocols for this. You get five clips to send to World Rugby's officiating system and that's where you raise your concerns.
"If I sat here and said New Zealand are cleaning out illegally at the breakdown and the referees must look into it, that's not the protocol, that's talking to referees through the media, and I've been burned for that before.
"Once you put a narrative like that out there, everybody starts focusing on it - all the media, all the podcasts, everyone starts analysing it - and a lot of people doing that analysis have no real knowledge of scrums."
Theatre? Sure. But at this point, the captivating state of the series should command centre stage.
The off-field antics and tensions reflect the stakes of this engrossing series between the world's two best teams.
Prior to the All Blacks' arrival in South Africa the Boks were seemingly unstoppable. The back-to-back world champions reeled off 12 straight Test victories, sweeping every tier one nation in their path.
The All Blacks had everything to gain; the Boks everything to lose.
The Boks' first Test loss at Ellis Park drastically altered the complexion of that narrative.
In the wake of one eventful week, one defeat, Erasmus attempted to grasp underdog status. The Boks responded in Cape Town to lead from start to finish, level the series, regain the initiative and set up scenes from a Hollywood blockbuster in Soweto, where 90,000 will flock for the third Test.
In my mind, and many others share similar views, this weekend is the true decider with the fourth test requiring both teams to travel on the same plane for a money-spinning match in Baltimore that alters the essence of the series.
All Blacks attack coach Mike Blair hinted that's the mindset the tourists are adopting, too.
"It's certainly a big game. You've got the three games in South Africa. Technically you could argue the series could be won by whoever wins this game because those are the three in South Africa," Blair said. "We're seeing it like that - a really important game for us. If you win this one you can't lose the series so it certainly puts you in the driving seat."
If they can weather the Boks' inevitable onslaught, which they failed to do in Cape Town, the All Blacks believe they will fatigue the huge South African forwards to pave the way for another final quarter surge.
The Boks are surrounded by home comforts but the more they are forced to run at altitude, the more zapped those big bodies become.
A smattering of fresh legs, through a combination of rotation and some figures yet to feature in the first two Tests, may be required in the All Blacks forward pack to withstand the storm and then impose fatigue on the Boks.
Little will change from the Boks. They'll back their set piece, their maul, their relentless power carries and high ball superiority to push the All Blacks against the ropes, punish any mistakes and force them to chase the game.
Another clash of styles awaits.
The final curiosity is the venue. The Boks have never won at Soweto, losing their only appearances there in 2010 and 2012 - both to the All Blacks.
Times have changed. The Boks hold the mantle.
The question now, though, is who will hold their nerve?
