In 2026 the traditional Rugby Championship will be on pause, but fans will still be treated to a nostalgic, high‑stakes tour as New Zealand’s All Blacks head to South Africa for an eight‑match extravaganza, including four full‑blown Test matches against the Springboks. The series, promoted in both countries as "Rugby's Greatest Rivalry Tour," is designed to celebrate more than a hundred years of competition between the two most decorated rugby nations on the planet.
So far the All Blacks have already dispatched the Stormers (21‑38 in Cape Town), the Sharks (0‑54 in Durban) and the Bulls (19‑50 in Pretoria). The four Test encounters are slated for August 22, August 29, September 5 and September 12, with the final match taking place at the M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore, USA, marking a rare trans‑Atlantic showdown.
### Early Encounters and the Birth of a Rivalry The first meeting between New Zealand and South Africa took place on 13 August 1921 at Carisbrook in Dunedin, when the Springboks were on a three‑Test tour of New Zealand. The All Blacks emerged victorious, 13‑5. A week later the hosts fell 5‑9 at Eden Park, and the series concluded with a 0‑0 draw in Wellington, leaving the inaugural tour level at one win each and one stalemate. That result sparked a rivalry that has endured at the very summit of the sport.
To date the two sides have clashed in roughly 110 Test matches. The All Blacks have edged ahead with 63 wins, the Springboks have secured 43 victories, and four games have ended in draws. When the matches are broken down by venue, the balance shifts slightly: in South Africa the hosts have won 28 of 54 Tests (the visitors have taken 25 and one was drawn), while in New Zealand the All Blacks have prevailed in 34 of 48 Tests (the Springboks have 11 wins and three draws).
### World Cup Showdowns Both nations have a storied World Cup pedigree. South Africa have bested New Zealand in two dramatic finals – the iconic 1995 showdown in Johannesburg and the 2023 final in France – and also defeated the All Blacks in the 1999 third‑place playoff. Conversely, New Zealand have knocked the Boks out in the 2015 semi‑final, the 2003 quarter‑final and the 2023 pool stage. These high‑pressure encounters have added layers of narrative to an already intense rivalry.
### The Interwar and Post‑War Years After the 1921 series, the two teams met again in 1927 when New Zealand toured South Africa. That series finished level at 2‑2, with each side winning two matches. The Boks then claimed back‑to‑back series victories in 1937 (2‑1 in New Zealand) and 1949 (a clean 4‑0 sweep on New Zealand soil).
New Zealand struck back in 1956, winning a home series 3‑1, only for South Africa to respond with a 2‑1 series win on home turf in 1960. ### Apartheid, Boycotts, and Political Turmoil From 1948 to 1994 South Africa operated under apartheid, a system of institutionalised racial segregation that extended into sport. The South African government refused to allow mixed‑race teams, prompting New Zealand to exclude its Māori players from several tours. Public protest erupted during the 1960 tour, and by the mid‑1960s South Africa faced growing isolation: barred from the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, expelled from the International Olympic Committee in 1970, and excluded from international tennis and the Davis Cup.
Rugby was one of the last sports to take decisive action. In 1965 the Springboks toured New Zealand and lost three of four Tests, prompting the formation of the Halt All Racist Tours (HART) movement in 1969. The 1970 All Blacks tour of South Africa ended in a 3‑1 series loss for New Zealand, while a planned 1973 New Zealand tour of South Africa was cancelled amid global sporting sanctions.
Nevertheless, matches continued sporadically. South Africa won a home series 3‑1 in 1976; New Zealand turned the tables in 1981, winning 2‑1 on South African soil, but the tour was marred by massive protests, pitch invasions, and even flour‑bomb attacks on the field. Two games were cancelled outright due to safety concerns, and the final Test featured an aircraft dropping flour bombs, flares and leaflets, briefly stunning All Blacks prop Gary Knight. The 1985 series was called off after a New Zealand court ruled that proceeding would be "incompatible with the NZRFU's legally stated purpose of fostering and encouraging the game of rugby." The Springboks missed the inaugural 1987 and 1991 Rugby World Cups, and a 1986 British and Irish Lions tour was also scrapped.
In 1986 a rebel side known as the New Zealand Cavaliers toured South Africa without official sanction. Participants were subsequently banned from representing the All Blacks for several Tests, and some never earned a full cap again. ### Re‑Entry and the Mandela Era With the dismantling of apartheid, South Africa returned to international sport in 1992, playing a Test against the All Blacks at Ellis Park and winning 27‑24. After Nelson Mandela became president in 1994, he used the Springboks as a unifying symbol for the new South Africa.
That same year the Boks toured New Zealand, losing two Tests and drawing one, before hosting the 1995 Rugby World Cup. Ranked ninth in the world after years of isolation, South Africa shocked the rugby world by reaching the final, where they faced a dominant All Blacks side featuring Jonah Lomu. In a tightly contested match, the Springboks won 15‑12 after extra time, a victory still surrounded by speculation about a mysterious food‑poisoning incident that allegedly affected many All Blacks players.
Although conspiracy theories involving a missing waitress named "Suzie" were never proven, the episode remains part of the rivalry’s folklore. ### Professional Era Dominance The All Blacks toured South Africa in August 1996, seeking revenge after the 1995 final.
Having already taken the inaugural 1996 Tri‑Nations, New Zealand won the first two Tests (23‑19 in Durban and 33‑26 in Pretoria) and clinched the series with a third Test win in South Africa. From 2001 to July 2004 the All Blacks went unbeaten against the Springboks, winning 13 of 17 encounters. New Zealand’s dominance continued with Tri‑Nations titles in 1997, 1999, 2002, 2003, and a remarkable run of four consecutive titles from 2005‑2008, another in 2010, and three‑peat streaks from 2011‑2013 and 2016‑2018.
The All Blacks also captured Rugby World Cup crowns in 2011 and 2015, the latter team often hailed as the greatest side ever assembled. South Africa, meanwhile, claimed the 2007 World Cup by defeating England in the final, but then endured a decade without major silverware. A low point came on 16 September 2017 when the Springboks were thrashed 57‑0 by New Zealand in Albany, followed by heavy defeats to Ireland and Wales later that year. The string of poor results prompted a major overhaul.
### The Erasmus Renaissance and Recent Success Rassie Erasmus took over as Springbok head coach in 2018, ushering in a dramatic turnaround. In September 2018 the Boks travelled to New Zealand and secured a shock 36‑34 victory in Wellington – their first win on Kiwi soil since 2009.
Less than a year later, South Africa lifted their third World Cup trophy, defeating England in the 2019 final in Japan after beating the All Blacks in the pool stage. Since that triumph, the Springboks have enjoyed a favorable head‑to‑head record, winning seven of the last eleven Tests against New Zealand. They captured the Rugby Championship in 2024 and 2025 and famously won the 2023 World Cup final against a depleted All Blacks side that fielded only 14 players.
### The Current Landscape The 2023 South African squad is widely regarded as deeper and more versatile than its predecessor, while the All Blacks are in a rebuilding phase under head coach Dave Rennie after the dismissal of Scott Robertson. Rennie has described the upcoming eight‑match, six‑week tour – which includes a grueling four‑Test series – as "the toughest tour in rugby" and an invaluable chance to test the side against the sport’s current benchmark. ### Fixture List (2026 Tour) - **Friday 7 August:** Stormers 21‑38 New Zealand (Cape Town) - **Tuesday 11 August:** Sharks 0‑54 New Zealand (Durban) - **Saturday 15 August:** Bulls 19‑50 New Zealand (Pretoria) - **Saturday 22 August:** 1st Test – South Africa vs New Zealand, Ellis Park, Johannesburg (16:10 BST) - **Tuesday 25 August:** Lions vs New Zealand, Johannesburg (18:00 BST) - **Saturday 29 August:** 2nd Test – South Africa vs New Zealand, Cape Town (16:10 BST) - **Saturday 5 September:** 3rd Test – South Africa vs New Zealand, FNB Stadium, Johannesburg (16:10 BST) - **Saturday 12 September:** 4th Test – South Africa vs New Zealand, M&T Bank Stadium, Baltimore, USA (22:00 BST) All eight matches will be broadcast live on Sky Sports, with streaming available via NOW. The tour not only revisits historic battlefields but also writes a new chapter in a rivalry that has shaped rugby for a century.