New Zealand and South Africa have contested rugby union’s fiercest and most storied rivalry for more than a century, pitting the All Blacks against the Springboks in matches that regularly decide who sits at the top of the world game. In 2026 that rivalry reached a landmark: the All Blacks toured South Africa for the first time in thirty years for an eight-match, four-Test series billed as “Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry,” finishing on neutral ground in the United States. This guide explains what happened on that tour, sets it in the context of the two nations’ all-time record, and breaks down the Freedom Cup, the biggest results in the fixture’s history and the tactics that separate these two sides.
Key Facts
- Teams: New Zealand (All Blacks) v South Africa (Springboks)
- First Test: 1921
- Tests played: 114 — New Zealand 64, South Africa 46, 4 draws
- 2026 series: South Africa won 3–1
- Trophies: Freedom Cup (retained by South Africa) and the inaugural Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry Trophy
- Biggest New Zealand win: 57–0 (Albany, 2017)
- Biggest South Africa win: 43–10 (Wellington, 2025)
- Next series: South Africa tour New Zealand in 2030
How the 2026 Series Unfolded
The tour ran from 7 August to 12 September 2026 and began almost perfectly for New Zealand. The All Blacks, coached by Dave Rennie, won their first five matches: comfortable victories over the three United Rugby Championship (URC) franchises they faced — the Stormers, Sharks and Bulls — followed by a commanding 33–16 win in the first Test at Ellis Park and a midweek win over the Lions. A URC franchise is one of South Africa’s four professional provincial clubs that play in the Northern Hemisphere’s United Rugby Championship.
South Africa, under Rassie Erasmus, then turned the series around. The Springboks won the second Test 33–26 in Cape Town, edged the third 29–24 in Johannesburg, and completed a 43–28 win in Baltimore to take the Test series 3–1. It was a familiar pattern in the modern rivalry: New Zealand starting strongly, South Africa finishing harder. You can follow the wider picture of recent form in our round-up of the latest All Blacks results.
2026 Test Series Results
| Test | Date | Venue | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | 22 Aug | Ellis Park, Johannesburg | New Zealand won 33–16 |
| 2nd | 29 Aug | Cape Town Stadium | South Africa won 33–26 |
| 3rd | 5 Sep | FNB Stadium, Johannesburg | South Africa won 29–24 |
| 4th | 12 Sep | M&T Bank Stadium, Baltimore (USA) | South Africa won 43–28 |
| Series: South Africa 3–1 | |||
Full Tour Schedule and Scores
The complete eight-match tour, combining midweek franchise fixtures with the four Tests, finished with New Zealand winning five games but losing the three that decided the trophy.
| Date | Fixture | Venue | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7 Aug | Stormers v All Blacks | Cape Town Stadium | All Blacks won 38–21 |
| 11 Aug | Sharks v All Blacks | Kings Park, Durban | All Blacks won 54–0 |
| 15 Aug | Bulls v All Blacks | Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria | All Blacks won 50–19 |
| 22 Aug | South Africa v All Blacks (1st Test) | Ellis Park, Johannesburg | All Blacks won 33–16 |
| 25 Aug | Lions v All Blacks | Ellis Park, Johannesburg | All Blacks won 41–35 |
| 29 Aug | South Africa v All Blacks (2nd Test) | Cape Town Stadium | South Africa won 33–26 |
| 5 Sep | South Africa v All Blacks (3rd Test) | FNB Stadium, Johannesburg | South Africa won 29–24 |
| 12 Sep | South Africa v All Blacks (4th Test) | M&T Bank Stadium, Baltimore | South Africa won 43–28 |
The Fourth Test in Baltimore
The series finished somewhere neither side had ever played each other: the United States. M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore, home of the NFL’s Baltimore Ravens, hosted the fourth Test on 12 September 2026, the first meeting between the two nations on American soil. The match was part of a deliberate push to grow the sport in the US ahead of the 2031 Rugby World Cup, which the country will host.
South Africa won 43–28, scoring six tries through Damian de Allende, Morné van den Berg, Malcolm Marx, Pieter-Steph du Toit, Kurt-Lee Arendse and Cameron Hanekom. New Zealand replied with four tries from Codie Taylor, Will Jordan, Ethan Blackadder and Beauden Barrett. Taylor’s score was a record-breaker: his 24th Test try, the most by any All Blacks hooker, surpassing Dane Coles. With the win, South Africa were presented with the trophy in front of a curious new audience.
The Freedom Cup and the New Rivalry Trophy
Two prizes were on the line in 2026. The first was the Freedom Cup, contested between New Zealand and South Africa since 2004 and originally created to mark the tenth anniversary of South Africa’s first democratic elections. For the first time in the cup’s history it was decided over four Tests rather than the usual one or two, and South Africa retained it by winning the series 3–1. The tour also introduced the inaugural “Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry” Trophy — a two-piece trophy handed in full to the series winners — which South Africa duly claimed.
New Zealand held the Freedom Cup for most of the 2010s, but South Africa’s resurgence under Erasmus has flipped the balance. The Springboks regained the cup in 2024 for the first time since 2009 and have held it ever since.
Freedom Cup: Recent Holders
| Year | Series | Freedom Cup |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | South Africa won 2–0 in South Africa | South Africa (regained, first since 2009) |
| 2025 | Split 1–1 (NZ 24–17; SA 43–10) | South Africa (retained) |
| 2026 | South Africa won the Test series 3–1 | South Africa (retained) |
The All-Time Record
Across 114 Tests, New Zealand still lead the head-to-head with 64 wins to South Africa’s 46, and four matches drawn. That overall lead disguises how the balance has shifted recently: since Rassie Erasmus took charge of the Springboks in 2018, South Africa have had the better of the fixture. New Zealand’s long-term dominance was built in the amateur and early professional eras, while South Africa have owned the biggest occasions of the past decade.
At the Rugby World Cup the two are level at three wins each, but South Africa have won the meetings that mattered most, taking both World Cup finals they have contested against New Zealand — in 1995 and again in 2023. For a sense of how this compares with the All Blacks’ other great fixtures, see our guide to the All Blacks’ rivalry with England.
Biggest Wins and Landmark Results
- Largest New Zealand win: 57–0 in Albany, 16 September 2017 — still the record margin in the fixture.
- Largest South Africa win: 43–10 in Wellington, 13 September 2025, ranked among the All Blacks’ heaviest-ever defeats.
- 2023 World Cup final: South Africa 12–11 at the Stade de France, the closing act of a tense knockout stage covered on Wikipedia.
- 2023 warm-up: South Africa 35–7 at Twickenham, a pre-World Cup statement win.
- First drawn Test: 0–0 in Wellington in 1921, during the very first series between the countries.
A Century of Rivalry: A Brief History
The two nations first met in 1921, sharing a three-match series that included a 0–0 draw. For decades the fixture carried extra weight because a Test series win in the other country was so rare — New Zealand did not win a series on South African soil until 1996, in the first year of professional rugby. The relationship was also shaped by events far beyond the field: South Africa’s sporting isolation during the apartheid era limited and, at times, made deeply controversial any contact between the sides, including the divisive 1981 Springbok tour of New Zealand. South Africa was readmitted to international rugby in 1992.
Since then the rivalry has been an almost annual event, first through the Tri-Nations from 1996 and then the Rugby Championship from 2012. Its defining modern moment came at the 1995 Rugby World Cup final, when South Africa beat New Zealand 15–12 after extra time in Johannesburg — the tournament won on home soil in the country’s first World Cup after isolation. That match, and the 2023 final, are why South Africa’s edge in the biggest games looms so large despite New Zealand’s overall lead.
Tactics: The Bomb Squad and the Rush Defence
South Africa’s recent edge is built on two ideas. The first is the “Bomb Squad” — a bench loaded with forwards, often in a 6–2 or even 7–1 split of forwards to backs, brought on around the hour mark to overwhelm tiring opponents with fresh power. The second is a fast, aggressive line-speed defence (a “rush defence”) designed to shut down space before the attack can use it.
New Zealand’s response has been to play at high tempo, keep the ball alive through offloads, and move the point of contact so the heavier Springbok pack has to defend across the width of the field. That contest is ultimately settled at the coalface. Winning clean, quick ball at the breakdown and controlling the set-piece — scrum, lineout and maul — tends to decide which game plan gets to dominate.
Venues, Altitude and Neutral Ground
The 2026 tour deliberately toured the traditional heartlands of South African rugby before its unusual finale. Altitude is a genuine factor in Johannesburg and Pretoria, where the thinner air can accentuate second-half fatigue for visiting teams. The Baltimore Test, by contrast, was played on neutral ground with no home advantage for either side.
| Venue | City | Approx. capacity | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ellis Park | Johannesburg | ~62,000 | High altitude (~1,753 m) |
| Cape Town Stadium | Cape Town | ~55,000 | Coastal, near sea level |
| FNB Stadium | Johannesburg | ~94,000 | Largest stadium in Africa |
| M&T Bank Stadium | Baltimore, USA | ~71,000 | Neutral venue; NFL ground |
What Comes Next
The Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry tour replaced the 2026 edition of the Rugby Championship, which was shelved for the year and returns in 2027 with Australia and Argentina back in the fold. The tour is designed to run on a four-year cycle: South Africa hosted in 2026, and the reciprocal series — the first professional-era Springbok tour of New Zealand — is scheduled for 2030, when the Rugby Championship will pause again. For Kiwi fans, that promises a Springbok side touring the provinces of Aotearoa for the first time in the modern game.
Sources
Frequently Asked Questions
Who won the 2026 New Zealand versus South Africa series?
South Africa won the four-Test series 3–1. New Zealand took the first Test 33–16 in Johannesburg, but the Springboks won the remaining three, including a 43–28 victory in Baltimore.
What is the all-time record between the All Blacks and Springboks?
The teams have met 114 times, with New Zealand winning 64, South Africa 46, and four Tests drawn. New Zealand lead overall, but South Africa have had the better of recent meetings under Rassie Erasmus.
What is the Freedom Cup?
It is a trophy contested between the two nations since 2004. South Africa hold it, having retained it in 2026 in the first Freedom Cup decided over four Tests.
Why was the fourth Test played in the United States?
It was staged at a neutral venue, M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore — the first meeting between the sides in the US — as part of efforts to grow rugby there ahead of the 2031 Rugby World Cup.
When will the teams tour again?
The Rugby Championship returns in 2027. The reciprocal Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry tour, with South Africa visiting New Zealand, is scheduled for 2030.
