The 2026 rugby calendar may lack a traditional Rugby Championship, but it compensates with a nostalgic, high‑profile tour that sees New Zealand’s All Blacks head to South Africa for an eight‑match extravaganza, including four full‑blown Test matches against the Springboks, all broadcast live on Sky Sports. Marketed in both nations as the "Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry Tour," the series commemorates more than a century of fiercely contested encounters between the two most decorated rugby powers in the world. So far the All Blacks have dispatched the Stormers (21‑38 in Cape Town), the Sharks (0‑54 in Durban) and the Bulls (19‑50 in Pretoria).
The four Tests are slated for August 22, August 29, September 5 and September 12, with the final match taking place at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore, USA, a historic nod to rugby’s growing global reach. **A Brief Chronology of the Rivalry** The first meeting between New Zealand and South Africa occurred on 13 August 1921 at Carisbrook in Dunedin, when the Springboks toured New Zealand for a three‑Test series. The All Blacks edged the opening game 13‑5, but South Africa answered with a 9‑5 win at Eden Park a week later, and the series concluded with a 0‑0 draw in Wellington, leaving the tally at one win each.
Since that inaugural clash, the two nations have faced off in roughly 110 Test matches. The All Blacks have emerged victorious 63 times, the Springboks 43 times, and four games have ended in a draw. Home‑and‑away statistics illustrate the balance of power: of the 54 Tests played on South African soil, the hosts have won 28, New Zealand 25, with one draw.
In New Zealand, the All Blacks have prevailed in 34 of the 48 Tests, the Springboks have taken 11, and three have been drawn. **World Cup Showdowns** At Rugby World Cups the rivalry has produced some of the tournament’s most dramatic moments. South Africa triumphed over New Zealand in two finals – the iconic 1995 showdown in Johannesburg and the 2023 final in Japan – and also defeated the All Blacks in the 1999 third‑place playoff.
Conversely, New Zealand has bested the Springboks in the 2015 semi‑final, the 2003 quarter‑final, and in the pool stages of the 2023 edition. **The Early Tours (1920s‑1950s)** After the 1921 series, the sides met again in 1927 when New Zealand toured South Africa. That tour ended level at 2‑2, with each nation winning two matches.
The Springboks then claimed back‑to‑back series victories, touring New Zealand in 1937 (2‑1) and hosting a dominant 4‑0 sweep in 1949. New Zealand answered in 1956 with a 3‑1 home series win, only for South Africa to retake the initiative in 1960 with a 2‑1 series victory on home ground.
**Apartheid and Sporting Isolation** From 1948 to 1994 South Africa’s apartheid regime imposed strict racial segregation, extending to sport. The South African government refused to allow mixed‑race teams, prompting New Zealand to exclude its Māori players from several tours. The 1960 tour sparked the first major public protests in New Zealand. By the mid‑1960s South Africa was barred from the Olympics and expelled from the International Olympic Committee, and its isolation grew across many sports, though rugby was slower to follow.
In 1965 the Springboks toured New Zealand, losing the series 3‑1, while the New Zealand‑based Halt All Racist Tours (HART) movement formed in 1969 to oppose any further contacts. The 1970 All Blacks tour of South Africa ended in a 3‑1 defeat for New Zealand.
A planned 1973 Springbok tour of New Zealand was cancelled amid worldwide condemnation, yet matches still occurred in 1976 (South Africa winning 3‑1 at home) and in 1981 (New Zealand winning 2‑1 in a tour marred by massive protests). The 1981 series featured dramatic incidents, including a Hamilton match where protestors ripped down a fence, scattered nails on the pitch, and staged a sit‑in on the halfway line, as well as an aircraft dropping flour bombs and leaflets over the final Test.
The 1985 series was aborted following a New Zealand court ruling that a South African tour would be "incompatible with the NZRFU’s legally stated purpose of fostering and encouraging the game of rugby." The Springboks missed the first two Rugby World Cups (1987, 1991), and a 1986 British‑and‑Irish Lions tour was also cancelled. A controversial "rebel" tour took place in 1986 when a privately organised New Zealand Cavaliers side toured South Africa. Participants were subsequently banned from official Tests, and several never wore the All Blacks jersey again.
**Re‑entry and the Mandela Era** With apartheid ending, South Africa re‑joined international sport. In 1992 the Springboks played their first post‑isolation Test against New Zealand, narrowly losing 27‑24 at Ellis Park. Nelson Mandela’s election in 1994 ushered in a new national narrative, urging all South Africans to support the once‑divisive Springboks.
South Africa toured New Zealand later that year, drawing one Test and losing two. The nation then hosted the 1995 Rugby World Cup, where a low‑ranked South African side stunned the world by beating the heavily favoured All Blacks 15‑12 in the final – a match still shrouded in speculation about alleged food‑poisoning that affected many New Zealand players. **Professional Era and Dominance Shifts** The All Blacks’ 1996 tour of South Africa was billed as revenge after the Springboks’ 1995 triumph. New Zealand, already Tri‑Nations champions, swept the first two Tests (23‑19 in Durban, 33‑26 in Pretoria) and clinched the series with a third Test win.
Between 2001 and July 2004 the All Blacks went unbeaten in 13 of the next 17 encounters with the Boks, while New Zealand collected Tri‑Nations titles in 1997, 1999, 2002 and 2003. South Africa captured the Tri‑Nations in 2004 and 2009, but New Zealand remained the dominant force, winning the competition four years running from 2005‑2008, again in 2010, and then three‑year streaks from 2011‑2013 and 2016‑2018. The All Blacks also secured Rugby World Cup victories in 2011 and 2015, the latter team often hailed as the greatest ever side. South Africa’s next World Cup glory arrived in 2007, when they defeated England in the final after beating New Zealand in the quarter‑finals.
However, the Springboks endured a trophy drought between 2009 and 2019. **The Rassie Erasmus Renaissance** A low point came in September 2017 when the Springboks were thrashed 57‑0 by New Zealand in Albany and suffered heavy defeats to Ireland and Wales shortly thereafter.
The string of poor results prompted the appointment of Rassie Erasmus as head coach. Erasmus reshaped the squad, and by September 2018 South Africa recorded a historic 36‑34 win in Wellington – their first victory on New Zealand soil since 2009. The following year, South Africa claimed their third World Cup title, beating England in the final in Japan.
They had eliminated the All Blacks in the semi‑finals, underscoring the shifting balance of power. Since that triumph, the Springboks have won seven of the eleven Tests against New Zealand, captured the Rugby Championship in 2024 and 2025, and secured the 2023 World Cup final – albeit against a depleted All Blacks side reduced to 14 players. **Looking Ahead to 2026** The upcoming four‑Test series forms the centerpiece of the 2026 tour. Dave Rennie, newly appointed All Blacks head coach, acknowledges the challenge: "With eight matches in six weeks, including a four‑Test series against the Springboks, this would have to be the toughest tour in rugby.
It will be an intense seven weeks of touring but an excellent opportunity for us to pit ourselves against the current benchmark team in world rugby, and to build connections with each other in a way that only a tour of this scale can do." The itinerary repeats the earlier fixtures: Stormers (21‑38), Sharks (0‑54), Bulls (19‑50), followed by Tests at Ellis Park, Cape Town, FNB Stadium, and finally Baltimore. Fans can follow every minute of the All Blacks’ eight‑match journey live on Sky Sports, streaming via NOW, with a reminder to use Chrome for optimal video playback.
This tour not only celebrates a storied rivalry but also offers a glimpse into the future of international rugby, where tradition meets modern professionalism, and where the All Blacks and Springboks continue to push each other to ever‑higher standards.