It's been branded "Rugby's Greatest Rivalry" tour. A clash of two of rugby's biggest heavyweights, the All Blacks and Springboks, across four Tests and four tour matches and will feature some of the biggest names in the game across two massive months.
Kicking off in Cape Town, the All Blacks will tour South Africa for six weeks before the two sides head to the USA for one final Test match in Baltimore sparking the return of a full tour format that includes clashes against South Africa's four URC sides.
This tour has meant the Rugby Championship remains on pause for the year with the competition returning in 2027 for a full home-and-away format ahead of the 2027 Rugby World Cup.
Read on for everything you need to know.
What is Rugby's Greatest Rivalry tour?
The Greatest Rivalry tour features two of world rugby's biggest heavy weights, South Africa and New Zealand, in a four Test series played across South Africa, culminating in a final Test in Baltimore, USA.
The tour is a joint venture between SA Rugby and New Zealand Rugby with the series to be played on a quadrennial basis, first in South Africa with the reciprocal series to be played in New Zealand in 2030.
It reignites the traditional touring concept with the All Blacks to face South Africa's four URC sides, the Stormers, Sharks, Lions, and Bulls, before both national sides face-off across four Test matches.
What about The Rugby Championship?
The Rugby Championship will pause for the 2026 season and again in 2030 to allow for the Greatest Rivalry tour. Instead, all four Rugby Championship nations - Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and Argentina - will play one-off Tests.
The Wallabies will face Japan in a two Test series before two Tests against the Pumas, a one-off Test against the Springboks in Perth and a two Test Bledisloe Cup series against the All Blacks.
Meanwhile, the Pumas will play the Springboks once and the Wallabies twice.
Why are they playing in Baltimore, USA?
There were a number of venue options for the fourth and final Test including England's Allianz (Twickenham) stadium, Ireland's Croke Park and Wales's Principaltiy Stadium, however, a deal between SA Rugby, NZR and World Rugby resulted in M&T Bank Stadium, Baltimore, the home of NFL's Baltimore Ravens, playing host.
World Rugby's push to grow the game in a largely untapped USA market has seen the global body push nations into taking matches to America for several years, including England's Test against the USA in Washington and the All Blacks-Ireland Test in Chicago last year.
With the USA set to host the 2031 and 2033 World Cups, the lure to take the game to America was obvious while Baltimore was keen to host the event to establish themselves as a potential host for the 2031 World Cup.
The 71,000 capacity stadium is a front runner to host World Cup matches with September's Test match a perfect test case.
Greatest Rivalry 2026 fixtures
Friday, 7 August
Stormers 21-38 All Blacks, DHL Stadium, Cape Town
Tuesday, 11 August
Saturday 15 August
Bulls vs. All Blacks, Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria, 7.00pm SAST, 5.00am NZST (Sunday), 3.00am AEST (Sunday), 6.00pm BST
Saturday 22 August
South Africa vs. All Blacks, Ellis Park, Johannesburg, 5.00pm SAST, 3.00am NZST (Sunday), 1.00am AEST (Sunday), 4.00pm BST
Tuesday 25 August
Lions vs. All Blacks, Ellis Park, Johannesburg, 7.00pm SAST, 5.00am NZST (Wednesday), 3.00am AEST (Wednesday), 6.00pm BST
Saturday 29 August
South Africa vs. All Blacks, DHL Stadium, Cape Town, 5.00pm SAST, 3.00am NZST (Sunday), 1.00am AEST (Sunday), 4.00pm BST
Saturday 5 September
South Africa vs. All Blacks, FNB Stadium, Johannesburg, 5.00pm SAST, 3.00am NZST (Sunday), 1.00am AEST (Sunday), 4.00pm BST
Saturday 12 September
South Africa vs. All Blacks, M&T Bank Stadium, Baltimore, USA, 5.05pm SAST, 3.05am NZST (Sunday), 1.05am AEST (Sunday), 4.05pm BST
Greatest Rivalry squads
New Zealand
Forwards
Hookers
Asafo Aumua, Codie Taylor, Samisoni Taukei'aho.
Props
Ethan De Groot, George Bower, Xavier Numia, Tyrel Lomax, Fletcher Newell, Pasilio Tosi, Siale Lauaki.
Locks
Tupou Vaa'i, Patrick Tuipulotu, Josh Lord, Sam Darry, Fabian Holland.
Loose Forwards
Peter Lakai, Simon Parker, Ethan Blackadder, Luke Jacobson, Anton Segner, Ardie Savea, Wallace Sititi, Semisi Tupou Ta'eiloa.
Backs
Scrumhalves
Cameron Roigard, Cortez Ratima, Kyle Preston.
Fly-halves
Ruben Love, Beauden Barrett, Damian McKenzie, Josh Jacomb.
Centres
Jordie Barrett, Quinn Tupaea, Billy Proctor, Anton Lienert-Brown, Timoci Tavatavanawai.
Outside Backs
Caleb Clarke, Fehi Fineanganofo, Leroy Carter, Josh Moorby, Will Jordan, Rieko Ioane, Emoni Narawa.
South Africa
Forwards
Props
Thomas du Toit, Wilco Louw, Ox Nche, Zachary Porthen, Carlu Sadie, Gerhard Steenekamp, Boan Venter.
Hookers
Johan Grobbelaar, Malcolm Marx.
Locks
Lood de Jager, Eben Etzebeth, Ruan Nortje.
Loose forwards
Paul de Villiers, Ben-Jason Dixon, Cameron Hanekom, Siya Kolisi, Elrigh Louw, Jasper Wiese.
Utility forwards
Pieter-Steph du Toit Franco Mostert Vincent Tshituka Marco van Staden Jan-Hendrik Wessels Cobus Wiese.
Backs
Scrumhalves
Herschel Jantjies, Cobus Reinach, Morne van den Berg, Grant Williams.
Fly-halves
Manie Libbok, Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, Vusi Moyo, Handre Pollard.
Centres
Damian de Allende, Andre Esterhuizen, Jesse Kriel.
Outside backs
Kurt-Lee Arendse, Aphelele Fassi, Ethan Hooker, Quan Horn, Cheslin Kolbe, Canan Moodie, Edwill van der Merwe, Damian Willemse.
Springboks vs. All Blacks history
The long and sometimes bitter rivalry between South Africa and New Zealand dates back over 100 years ago with the first ever Test match between the two nations recorded in 1921. It featured a tour in New Zealand where the series was shared.
Seven years later New Zealand would tour South Africa for the first time, where once again the series was shared.
The two nations continued to tour but the politics of apartheid within South Africa could not be ignored through the 1980s.
While New Zealand hosted and won a 2-1 series in 1981 the tour was dogged by protests throughout before their reciprocal tour in 1985 was cancelled due to the political landscape.
From 1985 to 1991 South Africa did not play a single international Test match against established nations and were barred from the inaugural 1987 Rugby World Cup and the following 1991 Rugby World Cup.
The Springboks' return to the international arena in the 90s came with much fanfare, with their first Test against the All Blacks in which they won 27-24 before they would go on to host the 1995 Rugby World Cup. The tournament culminated with the All Blacks and Springboks facing off in the final where the Springboks prevailed 15-12 in what is one of the most famous rugby moments in history.
The match didn't come without controversy though with the infamous "Suzie the waitress" food poisoning conspiracy snatching headlines with several All Blacks players and coaches claiming a mystery waitress tainted the players' food or coffee ahead of the World Cup final.
The rivalry continued through the 2000s before the two sides met once again in the 2023 Rugby World Cup final in Paris where the Springboks would prevail 12-11 in a tense and fiery encounter that involved multiple yellow cards and a red card to All Blacks captain Sam Cane.
Since that final, the All Blacks have defeated the Springboks just once as both sides continue to battle for rugby supremacy.
Recent results
New Zealand 10-43 South Africa, 13 September 2025, Rugby Championship, Wellington Regional Stadium, Wellington
New Zealand 24-17 South Africa, 6 September 2025, Rugby Championship, Eden Park, Auckland
South Africa 18-12 New Zealand, 7 September 2024, Rugby Championship, Cape Town Stadium, Cape Town
South Africa 31-27 New Zealand, 31 August 2024, Rugby Championship, Ellis Park Stadium, Johannesburg
New Zealand 11-12 South Africa, 28 October 2023, Rugby World Cup final, Stade de France, Paris
All Blacks' recent form
New Zealand 40-21 Ireland, Saturday 18 July 2026, Eden Park, Auckland
New Zealand 47-17 Italy, Saturday 11 July 2026, Hnry Stadium, Wellington
New Zealand 34-32 France, Saturday 4 July 2026, One NZ Stadium, Christchurch
Wales 26-52 New Zealand Saturday 22 November 2025, Principality Stadium, Cardiff
England 33-19 New Zealand, Saturday 15 November 2025, Allianz Stadium, England
Springboks' recent form
South Africa 43-0 Wales, Saturday 18 July 2026, Hollywoodsbets Kings Park, Durban
South Africa 42-28 Scotland, Saturday 11 July 2026, Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria
South Africa 45-21 England, Saturday 4 July 2026, Ellis Park, Johannesburg
Wales 0-73 South Africa Saturday 22 November 2025, Principality Stadium, Cardiff
Ireland 13-24 New Zealand, Saturday 15 November 2025, Aviva Stadium, Dublin