South Africa and New Zealand have agreed to renew traditional tours of one another’s nations for the first time in 30 years, with the deal set to have major ramifications for rugby in the Southern Hemisphere.
The tours, which were last held back in 1996, are set to begin again in 2026 and will be held every four years, while being marketed as ‘The Greatest Rugby Rivalry’. The first will see the All Blacks tour South Africa and play eight games in the country, including a three-test series against the world champion Springboks.
New Zealand are also set to face four opponents from the United Rugby Championship – namely the Bulls, the Lions, the Sharks and the Stormers -as well as a Springbok ‘A’ side on the tour, according to South African publication the Daily Maverick. The All Blacks would then host the Boks in 2030 and deliver an extended itinerary of their own.
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Further reports suggest that the two sides will face each other four times in 2026, with another Test – aside from the planned three-match series – likely to take place at a neutral venue, with Twickenham or a stadium in North America both options.
The publication says that representatives from both unions met to discuss renewing the tours ahead of South Africa’s 31-27 triumph over New Zealand last week, with the final contracts being prepared and the marketing tagline seemingly decided. The tours must still get approval from World Rugby, however.
“I just spent two days with the New Zealand leadership in what we are calling the Greatest Rugby Rivalry,” said South African Rugby Union chief Rian Oberholzer told the Daily Maverick. “It’s a working title, although some people might say it is arrogant to say that.
“We have signed a memorandum of understanding and we are in the planning phases now. We have a draft schedule that must still be agreed. We met with the commercial brokers on setting the commercial property, the sponsorship matrix and we will go to market in due course. We believe we have to be in the broadcast market soon.
“It is a collaboration of two unions that have agreed to work together off the field. We believe we have to be closer – and we have never been close,” Oberholzer added. “Let’s fight on the field and let’s work off the field to the betterment of both of the unions. We have such a challenge in rugby with funding, so we have to create our own opportunities, and that is what we are busy with at the moment.”
The agreement will likely have significant ramifications for the Rugby Championship, however, with Australia and Argentina set to be compromised by the deal from 2026. Oberholzer said that, as far as he’s concerned, the competition “will still happen” but admitted a format change would be needed, before revealing a back-up plan if the tournament is scrapped during tour years.
“The Rugby Championship will still happen, but it will probably be a single round, which we are pushing for,” he said. “If it is not going to happen, we as Saru did say to Argentina and Australia that we will play one-off Test matches against them. That is a discussion that we need finally in the second week of September.”
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