South Africa: Joburg to Host Two Tests On All Blacks' Historic Full Tour Return to SA in 2026

16 October 2025
Daily Maverick (Johannesburg)
By Craig Ray

The All Blacks' 2026 tour to South Africa was officially announced on Thursday. It will start on 7 August next year.

The All Blacks' 2026 tour to South Africa was officially announced on Thursday. It will start on 7 August next year.

After a 30-year hiatus, the All Blacks will undertake a full tour to South Africa in 2026, to play three Tests and four matches against United Rugby Championship (URC) clubs.

Ellis Park and the 90,000-capacity FNB Stadium will host the first and third Tests, while Cape Town's DHL Stadium will host the second Test.

Although the Kiwis are regular visitors to the country for one-off and occasionally two Tests as part of the Rugby Championship, this is the first "proper" tour, dubbed "Rugby's Greatest Rivalry" (RGR), in three decades.

The last time the All Blacks were in South Africa for a three-Test series in 1996, Sean Fitzpatrick's men famously claimed a 2-1 series win. It was the first and only time New Zealand have won a full series in South Africa.

Next year's tour, which Daily Maverick reported on more than a year ago, will replace the Rugby Championship in 2026. But the Rugby Championship will return for editions in 2027, 2028 and 2029 before the Boks tour New Zealand in 2030 for a reciprocal RGR in 2030....

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