SPRINGBOKS V ALL BLACKS: LAST FIVE TESTS

WELLINGTON, NEW ZEALAND - SEPTEMBER 13: Damian Willemse of South Africa celebrates after scoring a try during The Rugby Championship match between New Zealand All Blacks and South Africa Springboks at Sky Stadium on September 13, 2025 in Wellington, New Zealand. (Photo by Hagen Hopkins/Getty Images)

The Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry series shifts into top gear this weekend, with the Springboks hosting the All Blacks at Ellis Park, Johannesburg, in the first of four Tests.

New Zealand have concluded their run-outs against three of the four South African franchises, beating the Stormers, Sharks, and the Bulls over the last two weeks, while the Lions will get their chance against the men in black at the same iconic venue on August 25.

While this marks New Zealand’s first tour of South Africa in 30 years, this fiercest of sporting rivalries is anything but new.

South African toured New Zealand for the first time in 1921, and in the 110 Tests played between them, the All Blacks have won 63, while the Springboks have beaten them 43 times. Four Tests have ended in a draw.

The two iconic sides have won seven of the 10 world cups since the tournament began in 1987, with South Africa lifting the Web Ellis a record four times, while New Zealand have claimed the global top-podium spot on three occasions. Two of those finals have been played between the two teams, with South Africa winning both.

While the All Blacks hold an overall 57 percent success rate over the Springboks, there has been a major shift in the Rassie Erasmus era, with the Boks winning seven of their 11 Tests since the 2019 world cup in Japan.

With so much history between these age-old rivals and more history possibly to be made during this tour, we look at the five most recent results between South Africa and New Zealand.

September 13, 2025: All Blacks 10 Springboks 43, Wellington

South Africa ran in six tries – five of them in the second half – to dismantle the hosts in a shocking one-sided affair at Sky Stadium.

While the Boks dominated territory in the opening 40, they only had a Cheslin Kolbe intercept try to show for it and went into the break trailing 10-7, but they were ruthless after switching sides and kept the All Blacks scoreless in the second half, while they ran in five more tries.

The All Blacks assault in Wellington marked their biggest-ever victory against their rivals and the biggest defeat for the All Blacks on home soil. The result also saw the Boks retain the Freedom Cup while moving back to the top of the World Rugby rankings.

What made the performance even more impressive was how the Boks regrouped after their Eden Park defeat the previous week and the wholesale changes that were made to the squad. Youngsters were given the license to thrill. Add in there the injuries the visitors sustained in the first half in Wellington and how they emptied the bench even before the end of the third quarter, and the result becomes even more remarkable.

It was also the game that should have convinced the rugby world about the Boks’ attacking venom.

September 6, 2025: All Blacks 24- 17 Springboks, Auckland

Going into the clash, the Boks had been winless at Eden Park since 1937, and it remained that way, while New Zealand extended their long-standing record at the venue.

The All Blacks had been unbeaten in 50 Tests (including two draws) at their Eden Park bastion prior to this contest and added one more win to that streak, while the result snapped the Boks’ four-match winning run against them.

Ardie Savea produced a moment worthy of the occasion in his 100th Test for the All Blacks when he won a turnover with one minute to time to negate the spirited Springbok second-half fightback which saw the traveling team come back from 17-3 down at half time.

The result piled the pressure on the Springboks’ Rugby Championship title defence after three rounds.

September 7, 2024: Springboks 18 – 12 All Blacks, Cape Town

The result was a massive one for South Africa for a number of reasons – it marked the first time since 1949 that they beat New Zealand four times on the bounce and their first time winning the Freedom Cup since 2009, while it also all but secured them the Rugby Championship title for the first time since 2019, when the Boks became the first country to win the Sanzaar-governed competition and the world cup in the same year.

The Springboks trailed 3-9 at half-time at Cape Town Stadium and scored the only two tries of the match to claim an 18-12 victory in an absolute thriller of a clash to remain unbeaten in the Rugby Championship after four rounds.

South Africa led by a single point in the 70th minute, but Damian McKenzie flopped a straightforward penalty kick, allowing the Boks to exit after the All Black hooked his kick.

August 31, 2024: Springboks 31 – 27 All Blacks, Johannesburg

Drama lacked not in this blockbuster.

From the airplane flyover during the haka to the fantastic smash-and-grab by the Boks, this match had it all.

South Africa simply had no business winning this game.

The All Blacks had the upper hand in the most of the stats charts and dominated territory and possession, but they conceded more breakdown penalties against a Springbok team that just refused to go down.

And that was the difference, the home side’s relentless determination to keep up the fight.

New Zealand led by 27 points to 17 with just 11 minutes remaining before South Africa orchestrated a fantastic late surge in Round Three of the Rugby Championship.

It was a battle for the books, and while the All Blacks fell victim to some of their errors, the Boks rose above theirs in the Ellis Park epic and showed exactly why, with them, it’s never over till it’s over.

Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu contributed 16 points in the form of penalties and conversions, while the Bomb Squad injected some potency with Kwagga Smith scoring after a lineout maul was stopped metres from the line before Grant Williams burst over after another maul was stopped in its tracks.

With the win, the Boks tightened their grip on the Rugby Championship.

October 28, 2023: Springboks 12 – 11 All Blacks, Saint-Denis (France World Cup)

Not much needs to be said about why this match was a historic one.

While the Springboks gilded the pages of their stacked history books with a record fourth world cup title, All Blacks skipper Sam Cane became the first player to be red-carded in a world cup final.

But that was perhaps not as decisive as one would expect as the Boks also lost two players to yellow cards.

The All Blacks scored the only try of the match in the 58th minute courtesy of Beauden Barrett, which was the first time in their four finals that the Boks had conceded a try. That alone might have suggested that the night wouldn’t end favourably for the South Africans, but this is a team that knows nothing of a white flag and in no other contest did they make it clearer than on that icy night in Saint-Denis.

Handré Pollard scored all his team’s points with four first-half penalties while Pieter-Steph du Toit single-handedly put together the study guide on colossal defence in a performance that epitomised “big match temperament”.

No words can do the kind of determination and character that the Boks embodied on that night justice.

- Wynona Louw

IMPERIOUS SOUTH AFRICA INFLICT HEAVIEST EVER TEST DEFEAT ON ALL BLACKS

Springboks smash New Zealand in Wellington as Argentina beat Australia

Siya Kolisi of South Africa celebrates with the Freedom Cup after winning The Rugby Championship match between New Zealand All Blacks and South Africa. Photograph: Hagen Hopkins/Getty

Rugby Championship: New Zealand 10 South Africa 43

South Africa shrugged off a litany of injuries to humiliate New Zealand 43-10 in a Rugby Championship stunner in Wellington on Saturday as the hosts crashed to their worst-ever test defeat.

With their backline in tatters and trailing 10-0 after an early try to debutant Leroy Carter, the Springboks scored 36 unanswered points in an extraordinary onslaught a week after falling 24-17 to the hosts at Eden Park.

Cheslin Kolbe lit the spark with a try in each half, while Damian Willemse, Kwagga Smith, RG Snyman and Andre Esterhuizen also crossed for the Springboks after the break.

South Africa are making a habit of humbling the New Zealanders, having inflicted their previous worst defeat – a 35-7 thrashing at Twickenham in the lead-up to the 2023 Rugby World Cup.

It was a win made all the sweeter by the challenges thrown at the visitors, who lost lock Lood de Jager, outhalf Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu and fullback Aphelele Fassi in the first half to injuries.

Scrumhalf Cobus Reinach also spent time off the ground from a head-knock but returned after passing a head-injury assessment.

South Africa's Cheslin Kolbe dives in to score a try. Photograph: Grant Down/AFP via Getty

South Africa captain Siya Kolisi, a colossal presence throughout the night, said the performance had been brewing after a week of introspection following Eden Park.

“We played fearless, we said we’re not going to hold back. We know what we need to do and we believe in ourselves. That’s the most important thing out there,” he said.

“All we wanted was just a win. And we’re just happy that we got there and ... are able to fight for the Rugby Championship. So it’s open now and that’s all that matters to us.”

South Africa’s bonus-point win lifted them to second on the table, one point behind Australia, who fell 28-26 to Argentina in Sydney earlier in the day.

The third-placed All Blacks are level with defending champions South Africa on 10 points, one ahead of the Pumas after four rounds of the tightest Rugby Championship.

All four nations have two wins and two defeats, and all to play for.

South Africa next face Argentina in back-to-back tests while Australia take on New Zealand in two tests doubling as their annual Bledisloe Cup series.

Shell-shocked All Blacks coach Scott Robertson said there were no excuses for their dramatic fade-out.

“They just got momentum, won the air, won a lot of set piece ... They were just good tonight,” he said of South Africa.

“We thought we had a really good week but obviously it wasn’t deep enough preparation.”

Early on at Wellington Regional Stadium, there was little sign of the rout in store as the Springboks reeled from injuries and trailed by 10 points following winger Carter’s try and an early penalty.

It took Kolbe to keep them in the hunt as he intercepted centre Billy Proctor’s pass and bolted 70 metres to the line.

The All Blacks led 10-7 at the break but the Springboks’ forwards ramped up the set-piece pressure, winning a decisive scrum penalty three minutes from the restart.

Kolisi made a midfield break and replacement centre Esterhuizen flung the ball wide to Kolbe who danced over at the right corner.

Three minutes later, the livewire winger was wincing in the hands of trainers after a no-arms tackle by lock Tupou Vaa’i.

Manie Libbok knocked over the resulting penalty to stretch the Springboks’ lead to 17-10.

From there, the All Blacks struggled to maintain possession or withstand the waves of Springboks attackers.

Willemse dotted down near the hour-mark, beating three defenders, before Smith crossed in the 69th minute.

Snyman, earlier denied a try due to a knock-on, then barged over in the 73rd minute, with Esterhuizen completing the demolition with his team’s sixth try six minutes later to leave the crowd’s black-clad fans stunned.

With New Zealand losing their first-ever match in Argentina against the Pumas last month, Robertson and his staff face a fortnight of queries before meeting the Wallabies at Eden Park.

“We’ve got to be really, extremely honest with each other,” he said.

- The Irish Times

ALL BLACKS V FRANCE: FIVE TAKEAWAYS AS SCOTT ROBERTSON'S SIDE 'MONSTER' LES BLEUS BUT NEW ZEALAND'S 'DISRESPECT' A DISAPPOINTMENT

Codie Taylor scoring a try for All Blacks v France and Les Bleus flanker Pierre Bochaton.

Following a 43-17 victory for the All Blacks over France in Wellington on Saturday, here’s our five takeaways from the tour clash at Sky Stadium.

The top line

The All Blacks will hope that they have well and truly ended their Wellington curse as they won their mid-year series with a game to spare following a dominant victory over France. After a triumph over the Wallabies in their previous match in the capital, which ended a six-year winless streak, they managed to claim another positive result at Sky Stadium.

Head coach Scott Robertson will equally be happy as to how New Zealand found their clinical edge after the struggles of the first Test. They touched down six times on Saturday, with the hard work very much being done by the forwards.

Les Bleus’ fast start stunned in Dunedin, but this time it was the All Blacks who controlled matters early. A penalty got the scoreboard rolling before a nicely worked set play resulted in Cam Roigard scampering away to score.

Robertson’s men would not look back from that moment and further tries from Ardie Savea and Codie Taylor put them in complete command. They then put together the move of the match, which resulted in Tupou Vaa’i crossing the whitewash and giving them a 29-3 advantage at the break.

Although France were better in the second period, going over through Joshua Brennan and Leo Barre, the All Blacks also managed to add to their tally with Will Jordan and Rieko Ioane touching down.

Power-packed All Blacks

New Zealand dominated the scrum last weekend but France were otherwise competitive in every other facet up front. However, it was a complete reversal in Wellington as the hosts’ front-row failed to get the upper hand, but Robertson’s outfit dominated elsewhere, getting on the front foot in maul and in the gain line battle, while they also caused problems for the French lineout.

Codie Taylor enjoyed a fine game at hooker but it was the back five of the scrum who were the stars of the show. Patrick Tuipulotu and Fabian Holland formed a fine lock combination, with the former carrying with sheer ferocity and the latter wreaking havoc in the set-piece and around the field.

The loose trio also looked balanced. As ever, Ardie Savea was a ball of energy and was proving difficult to stop in the loose, but this weekend he was ably supported by Tupou Vaa’i and Christian Lio-Willie. Vaa’i was a real presence in the lineout and also showed both his physicality and breakdown expertise, while Lio-Willie also had some excellent moments at the contact area.

France simply had no answer to the All Blacks’ forward eight as they were regularly sent into reverse, particularly in the maul. Two tries came directly from drives and it effectively took the game away from the visitors in the opening period. Les Bleus’ replacements improved things after the break but, by that point, it was too late.

Direct All Blacks

Robertson has talked about playing with tempo and pace but, let’s be realistic, on the evidence of the first two Tests, the game plan has not veered too far away from the 2024 version. Having speed on the game does not necessarily mean they will be the all-singing, all-dancing side from yesteryear, which some pundits have been implying.

They managed to get quick ball due to their dominance in contact but, in truth, they rarely spread the ball wide. Their performance started with the superb Cam Roigard and Beauden Barrett, whose kicking game set the tone, before the set-piece got to work and then the hosts’ carriers pummeled the French through the middle.

It was mightily efficient but it did not stray from what they attempted to do in Test one or last season. As a result, it almost rendered the wide players moot. Billy Proctor produced a fine performance but most of his best work was done in defence, which was much better this weekend, while Emoni Narawa and Rieko Ioane rarely had much space to work with as the game plan remained rather conservative.

Ioane ended in credit, though, and was much better in Wellington, scoring a try and getting involved far more, which included a fine carry and hands for Vaa’i’s score, but that effort from the blindside flanker was the most expansively the All Blacks played all evening.

Weaker French collapse

France made mass changes to their side for this encounter and it showed. The pack was even more understrength and some of the star backs from last weekend were also rotated, and Fabien Galthie paid the price for those decisions.

Les Bleus were simply bullied up front, with the lineout being taken apart by the hosts and the maul being shunted backwards by the well-drilled Kiwis. Brennan, despite the set-piece woes, was impressive in the loose, while Georges-Henri Colombe had some excellent moments in the loose and was surprisingly reliable in the scrum, but they were monstered in most areas.

As a result, the backline had little ball to weave their magic, but even then there were subpar displays with mistakes prevalent. Emilien Gailleton struggled on the wing and quite frankly needs to be moved back to centre, and Theo Attissogbe was certainly not as effective after being shifted from full-back.

Not that you would necessarily know which French players were playing well or badly if you were listening to New Zealand commentary, with individuals constantly getting mixed up. Pierre Bochaton was somehow mistaken for Matthias Halagahu at one stage and, unfortunately, it appeared inevitable that Romain Taofifenua would be called Cameron Woki at some point, or vice versa, and of course that duly happened.

There has been a lot of talk about apparent French ‘disrespect’ during this series but respect goes both ways and the commentary team doing their research on their opposition, however understrength, would be a start.

TMO watch

There was plenty of debate following the first Test over the use of the TMO and how much it affected the pace of the game, but it did not impact the contest this weekend. There were plenty of interjections but it was while the game going on, with Brett Cronan coming in when referee Christophe Ridley had missed something on the field.

And although there was the odd call which had to be officially reviewed, including the yellow cards for Beauden Barrett and Brennan, the decisions were made swiftly and accurately to keep the match moving.

- Colin Newboult

WHAT ARE THE HOST CITIES AND VENUES FOR THE WOMEN'S WORLD CUP ?

Reuters

The ninth FIFA Women's World Cup takes place in Australia and New Zealand from July 20 to Aug. 20. These are the host cities and venues for the tournament (Indigenous and Maori names used by tournament organisers in parenthesis):

SYDNEY (CADICAL)

Australia's first city is home to more than five million people and boasts world class beaches as well as the iconic bridge and Opera House facing each other across the harbour.

Built for the 2000 Olympics with an original capacity of more than 100,000, Stadium Australia will host Australia's opening game against Ireland and matches in each of the knockout rounds, including the final.

Sydney Football Stadium (42,000)

Completely rebuilt and re-opened last year, the SFS is a state-of-the-art stadium to the south of the harbour and the home ground for A-League club Sydney FC as well as two rugby teams. Will stage five group matches and a round of 16 tie.

AUCKLAND (TAMAKI MAKAURAU)

New Zealand's largest city was built around two harbours and is sometimes known as the 'City of Sails'. Auckland has long been a magnet for migrants from Pacific islands and boasts the largest ethnic Polynesian population in the world.

Eden Park (50,000)

The spiritual home of New Zealand rugby, Eden Park has hosted three World Cup finals in that sport. Will stage six group matches as well as a round of 16 tie, quarter-final and semi-final.

MELBOURNE (NAARM)

Australia's sports and cultural capital, Melbourne has a similar population to Sydney, its great rival for pre-eminence in the country.

Melbourne Rectangular Stadium (30,000)

Part of the complex of facilities that also includes the Melbourne Cricket Ground and the home of the Australian Open tennis, the stadium is the home ground for Melbourne Victory and Melbourne Heart A-League clubs. Will host four group matches and two round of 16 ties.

WELLINGTON (TE WHANGNUI-A-TARA)

New Zealand's capital is built around a harbour in the south of the country's North Island. The world's windiest city, Wellington has gained a reputation for culture and its cafe scene.

Wellington Regional Stadium (35,000)

'The Cake Tin' is in the centre of the city and the home to the Wellington Phoenix A-League club as well as a rugby team. Will host seven group matches plus a round of 16 tie and a quarter-final.

DUNEDIN (OTEPOTI)

New Zealand's southernmost city, Dunedin was founded by Scottish migrants and named after the Gaelic for Edinburgh. Students at Otago University and Polytechnic make up a large proportion of the population of some 130,000.

Dunedin Stadium (30,000)

Fortunately given the sometimes wild local weather, 'The Glasshouse' is an entirely enclosed stadium that also hosts rugby and pop concerts. Will stage six group matches.

BRISBANE (MEAANJIN)

At the heart of Australia's fastest growing region, Brisbane is built on the banks of the river of the same name and will host the 2032 Olympics.

Lang Park (52,500)

The home of Queensland rugby league, Lang Park has hosted two World Cup finals in that sport and is renowned for its atmosphere when full. Home to the Brisbane Roar A-League team, it will host five group matches, a round of 16 tie, a quarter-final and the third-fourth playoff.

HAMILTON 

An inland city nestled on the banks of the Waikato River, Hamilton is the heart of a large and populous agricultural region. Two of New Zealand's three women prime ministers, Helen Clark and Jacinda Ardern, were born in Hamilton.

Waikato Stadium (25,800)

A multi-purpose facility mainly used for rugby, Waikato Stadium hosted matches at the 2011 Rugby World Cup. Local fans are famous for ringing cow bells. Will host five group matches.

ADELIDE

Adelaide is coastal city and capital of the state of South Australia which lies close to the famous Barossa valley wine producing region.

Hindmarsh Stadium (16,500)

A boutique stadium in the city's suburbs and home of A-League club Adelaide United. Will host four group matches and a round of 16 match.

PERTH

The capital of the state of Western Australia is a coastal city with fine beaches and plentiful sunshine. One of the most isolated large cities in the world, Perth is home to more than two million people.

Perth Oval (20,500)

The home of Perth Glory and two rugby teams, the ground was originally a venue for Australian Rules matches but reconfigured as a rectangular stadium in 2004. Will host five group matches.

- Reuters 

HERE ARE THE 9 CITIES AND 10 STADIUMS HOSTING 2023 WOMEN'S WORLD CUP MATCHES

The Women’s World Cup is being staged in 10 stadiums in nine cities in Australia and New Zealand. The tournament starts on July 20 and the final is set for Aug. 20.