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SOUTH AFRICA AND NEW ZEALAND TO RENEW TOURS, RIPPING UP RUGBY CHAMPIONSHIP IN BLOW TO AUSTRALIA
South Africa and New Zealand have agreed to stage extended tours of one another’s nations every four years, beginning in 2026.
These trips, the first of which will comprise eight matches in South Africa, including the first three-Test series between the Springboks and the All Blacks in 30 years, will be marketed as “The Greatest Rugby Rivalry”.
Daily Maverick reported on Tuesday afternoon that New Zealand will have four matches against opposition from the United Rugby Championship – the Bulls, the Lions, the Sharks and the Stormers – as well as an encounter with South Africa A in two years’ time.
Besides the three-Test series, which last happened in 1996, when Sean Fitzpatrick’s side famously prevailed 2-1, there will be a fourth Test between the Springboks and the All Blacks that year.
However, that was said to be likely to take place at Twickenham or in North America. South Africa beat New Zealand 35-7 at Twickenham last year in a World Cup warm-up fixture for the Qatar Airways Cup.
New Zealand are due to host South Africa in 2030 and will present the Springboks with a similarly thorough itinerary. The only time South Africa have triumphed in a three-Test series in New Zealand was in 1937.
The Daily Maverick reported that representatives from the respective unions of South Africa and New Zealand met last week in the lead-up to the Springboks’ 31-27 win at Ellis Park. World Rugby must give approval to the tour, but it was said that final contracts were being prepared. The marketing tagline appears to have been decided, too.
“I just spent two days with the New Zealand leadership in what we are calling the Greatest Rugby Rivalry,” said Rian Oberholzer, chief executive of the South African Rugby Union.
“It’s a working title, although some people might say it is arrogant to say that,” Oberholzer continued. “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.
“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.”
These developments are sure to compromise the Rugby Championship, which also features Argentina and Australia, in 2026, 2030 and beyond. Oberholzer suggested that South Africa’s preference would be for there to be single fixtures between the teams rather than the double-header.
“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,” he said. “That is a discussion that we need finally in the second week of September.”
The year of 2026 is already shaping up to be a significant one for Test rugby. It has been mooted as the inaugural year of the Nations Championship, which will see two conferences of six teams – the Six Nations sides and those from the Rugby Championship plus two others – compete for a place in a grand final that autumn.
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