Few rivalries in any sport deliver the same edge-of-seat tension as New Zealand and South Africa meeting in a Test match. The 2026 series just added a fresh twist: South Africa won it 3–1, closed with a 43–28 victory in Baltimore, and out-scored the All Blacks 121–111 across four Tests.

4 related posts

Total Tests: 114 · South Africa Win Rate: 40% · Largest Springboks Win: 43-10 (September 2025) · Most Recent Meeting: South Africa 43-28 New Zealand (September 2026)

Quick snapshot

1Confirmed facts
2What’s unclear
3Timeline signal
  • New Zealand led the series 1–0 after the Ellis Park opener. (Sky Sports’ Springbok team news)
  • South Africa then won three straight Tests to seal the series (Sky Sports’ Springbok team news).
  • South Africa’s aggregate points margin across the series was +10 (Yahoo Sports’ series schedule).
4What’s next

Six numbers, one pattern: South Africa’s record win in 2025 and a 3–1 series in 2026 have turned a century-old deficit into a live argument.

Record Value
Total Tests 114
South Africa Wins 46
All Blacks Wins 64
Draws 4
Largest SA Win 43-10 (September 2025)
Most Recent Result South Africa 43-28 New Zealand (September 2026)
The upshot

South Africa’s 3–1 series win was built on a simple equation: out-score New Zealand 121–111 by winning the collisions. The All Blacks’ 33–16 opener proved they can still strike — just not across four full Tests.

How many times has South Africa beaten New Zealand in rugby?

South Africa have beaten New Zealand 46 times in the 114 Tests the nations have played since 1921, with 4 draws. The All Blacks still lead the series 64–46, but the recent trend is unmistakable: South Africa have won four of the last five meetings, including three of four in the 2026 series.

Head-to-head record breakdown

  • 114 Tests played
  • New Zealand 64 wins (56%)
  • South Africa 46 wins (40%)
  • 4 draws

The percentages tell the all-time story; the match list tells a different one. Since September 2025, the Springboks have won four of five Tests and produced the rivalry’s biggest statement result — the 43–10 record win that redefined what a peak Springbok performance looks like.

Largest wins in the rivalry

  • South Africa 43–10, September 2025 — the largest margin in the rivalry’s history.
  • South Africa 43–28, September 2026 — the Springboks’ widest win of the latest series.
  • New Zealand 33–16, August 2026 — the All Blacks’ only win across the four matches.

The 43–10 result reset expectations, and the 43–28 clincher in Baltimore confirmed it was not a one-off. New Zealand’s 33–16 win shows they can still land a blow — the problem was sustaining it.

Recent meetings and trends

The pattern is the story: New Zealand won the opener, then South Africa answered with three straight wins built on heavy collisions and disciplined pressure. The final aggregate margin was just +10, which understates how clearly the momentum swung after the first Test.

Bottom line: New Zealand still lead the all-time record 64–46, but South Africa have won four of the last five meetings and just took a four-Test series 3–1. Springbok fans can call this a genuine power shift; All Blacks supporters can point to the 33–16 opener as proof the gap is closable — but only with a full-series answer.

Where can I watch the All Blacks vs South Africa rugby match live for free?

The 2026 series is done, but the broadcast map stays the same whenever these two meet. Coverage splits by broadcaster and country, and a few official free options exist if you know where to look.

Free streaming options

  • Rugby World’s free-viewing guide (Rugby World) rounds up the official ways to watch the rivalry without a pay-TV subscription.
  • Free-to-air channels in South Africa and New Zealand carry selected Rugby Championship matches.
  • Short free trials on official streaming platforms can cover a single Test if you time them carefully.

The safest free option is an official window: a free-to-air channel or a broadcaster’s own live stream. It is reliable, legal, and easy to find close to kickoff.

Official broadcasters

  • SuperSport holds Springbok match coverage in South Africa.
  • Sky Sports and the BBC have both carried the rivalry in the UK, with BBC Sport running live text coverage of the 2026 series.
  • New Zealand viewers have had a mix of pay-TV and free-to-air coverage through the Rugby Championship.

If you are in one of those markets, the official broadcaster is the first place to check. If your region is not getting a feed, a VPN can unlock a legal stream from a broadcaster that has the rights. And if you would rather play than watch, this Rugby League Live 4 guide covers where the game is still available on PS5.

Using VPN to access geo-restricted streams

The catch

Free-stream hunting is where the rivalry stops being fun. Unofficial sites are unreliable and can carry malware; the smart play is a free-to-air window or a timed free trial on an official service.

A VPN is useful for one specific job: connecting to an official broadcaster’s feed in a region where the match is free. Use a reputable service, connect to the right country, and you are watching legally. Skip the random streaming links.

For the rugby-league equivalent of a rivalry deciding a series, here’s how State of Origin 2024 ended 2–1.

Bottom line: UK viewers: Sky Sports and the BBC are the reliable homes. South African viewers: SuperSport leads. Free-to-air windows in South Africa and New Zealand, plus timed free trials on official services, cover the rest — and if you use a VPN, point it at an official feed, not a random site.

Who is the richest rugby player ever?

The “ever” part is hard to verify — rugby has no central earnings registry, and most contract figures are estimates. The useful question is narrower: who are the highest-paid Springboks, and which coaching salaries dominate the conversation?

Richest Springbok players

  • Eben Etzebeth — repeatedly described as one of the highest-paid Springboks of his generation.
  • Cheslin Kolbe — a marquee back whose value runs beyond his match fee.
  • Bryan Habana — earned a significant salary during his time at Toulon.

Etzebeth’s name comes up most often because he is the forward other packs build their game plans around. Kolbe’s earnings follow his reputation as a try-scorer who changes games in a single touch. Habana’s Toulon contract was the milestone deal of its era for a South African wing.

Highest paid rugby coaches

The upshot

Rassie Erasmus’ dual role as director of rugby and head coach makes his package one of the most discussed in Test rugby. The actual figure stays inside SA Rugby’s books — treat published numbers as estimates.

Erasmus’ package is reportedly among the highest in world rugby, and the logic is straightforward: he runs the entire Springbok structure, not just the matchday 23.

Estimated salaries of Bryan Habana, Cheslin Kolbe, Rassie Erasmus

  • Bryan Habana: Toulon reportedly paid a significant salary for the Springbok wing at the peak of his career.
  • Cheslin Kolbe: contract details are confidential; published estimates vary widely.
  • Rassie Erasmus: reported coaching earnings are among the highest in the sport.

If you see a precise figure attached to any of these names, treat it as an estimate. The certainty ends where the private contracts begin.

Bottom line: The biggest earning power in South African rugby now sits with forwards and coaches — a mirror of the physical game that just won a series 3–1. No single figure is publicly confirmed, so treat any reported salary as an informed guess.

Why is FAF de Klerk not playing?

Faf de Klerk has been left out of recent Springbok matchday squads, and the absence has become one of the team’s most persistent selection questions. The short answer involves injury, form, and a deeper group of scrum-halves than the one he broke into.

Injury concerns

  • A calf injury in 2024 disrupted his run of form.
  • Scrum-half is a position built on sharp acceleration, and calf issues linger.

The injury alone does not explain a long omission. Selection since then has come down to fitness and the balance of the squad.

Selection policy and form

  • The emergence of other scrum-halves has changed the selection conversation.
  • Recent Springbok squads have favoured current form over established names.

De Klerk is competing with a deeper position group than the one he broke into, and the coaching staff now have options that did not exist earlier in his career.

Current status and potential return

What to watch

No official return date has been set. The next Springbok squad announcement will settle the question faster than any rumour mill.

Until then, de Klerk’s path back runs through club form and the next Test window. The omission looks like a form-and-fitness decision, not a retirement.

Bottom line: South Africa’s ability to compete at the top of the world game without their best-known scrum-half in the matchday 23 is a sign of depth, not decline. De Klerk’s return date remains unconfirmed, but the door is open based on form.

Who is the 6ft 9 South African rugby player?

The 6 ft 9 South African player fans keep searching for is Lood de Jager, the Springboks’ locking forward. His height makes him one of the most recognisable figures in Test rugby and a central piece of South Africa’s set-piece game.

Lood de Jager profile

Height: 2.06 m (6 ft 9 in) · Position: Lock · Role: Lineout anchor

De Jager’s 2.06 m frame gives the Springboks a lineout target that forces defences to plan around him. His height is a key asset in lineouts, as the rivalry’s recent Tests showed.

Other tall Springboks

  • Springbok locks are selected with lineout dominance in mind.
  • De Jager’s 2.06 m frame sets the template for the position.
  • Height in the second row translates into clean takes and shorter margins for the opposition’s maul defence.

The Springboks’ forwards are built around that template, and the 2026 series showed why: the set-piece base gave their playmakers a platform the All Blacks struggled to disrupt in the final three Tests.

Height advantage in rugby

Why it matters

A 6 ft 9 lock changes the geometry of a match: contestable lineouts, a lower platform for driving mauls, and a target that keeps the opposition’s kicking game honest.

Bottom line: When fans search for the “6ft 9 South African”, they are really asking about the standard — the modern Springbok lock who sets the physical ceiling for the whole team. Lood de Jager is that player, and his height remains a decisive tactical asset.

All Blacks vs Springboks: the numbers that matter

Six rows show where the balance sits right now: New Zealand still own the all-time record, but South Africa own the recent momentum.

Metric New Zealand South Africa
All-time Test wins 64 46
Win rate across 114 Tests 56% 40%
2026 series record 1 win, 3 losses 3 wins, 1 loss
2026 points scored 111 121
2026 aggregate margin -10 +10
Rugby World Cup finals and semis 1 (2015 semi-final) 2 (1995, 2023 finals)

The implication: the all-time columns are history; the 2026 columns are the present. The Springboks’ series win flipped the aggregate margin by 20 points and turned a rivalry question into a rivalry statement.

From 1921 to Baltimore: a rivalry timeline

More than a century of Tests, with one through-line: whenever South Africa found a physical edge, the rivalry shifted. The 2026 results are drawn from the BBC Sport, ESPN, Yahoo Sports, and Sky Sports coverage cited above.

  • — First Test between New Zealand and South Africa, played in Dunedin.
  • — All Blacks win the series 3–1 in New Zealand.
  • — South Africa win the Rugby World Cup final 15–12.
  • — All Blacks win the World Cup semi-final 20–18.
  • — South Africa win the World Cup final 12–11.
  • — Springboks set the rivalry’s biggest margin with a 43–10 win.
  • — All Blacks win the opener 33–16 at Ellis Park.
  • — South Africa level the series 33–26 in Cape Town.
  • — South Africa go 2–1 up with a 29–24 win at FNB Stadium.
  • — South Africa seal the series 3–1 with a 43–28 win in Baltimore.

Around the Tests, the All Blacks played four provincial sides on the same tour, beating the Stormers, Sharks, and Bulls before rounding out the leg with a 41–35 win over the Lions at Ellis Park (Yahoo Sports’ series schedule).

Bottom line: The September 2025 record and the 2026 series are not isolated shocks. Four Springboks wins in five meetings is a phase, not a fluke.

What’s confirmed vs what’s still unclear

Confirmed facts

  • South Africa won the four-Test 2026 series 3–1, with wins in Cape Town, Johannesburg, and Baltimore.
  • The tour featured four Tests plus four additional matches against South African provincial sides (Sky Sports’ Springbok team news).
  • The fourth Test was staged in Baltimore, United States, rather than in New Zealand or South Africa.

What’s unclear

  • Exact salary figures for Springbok players are not publicly confirmed.
  • FAF de Klerk has no confirmed return date after his recent omission from matchday squads.
  • The reasons behind Rassie Erasmus’ divorce are private and not officially disclosed.
Bottom line: The 2026 results are rock-solid; the money and personal stories around the team are not. Treat those with a higher standard of proof.

What the coaches are saying

John Mitchell, responding to the record 43–10 defeat in September 2025, called for a tactical reset — the first public signal that New Zealand could no longer rely on pace alone to break the Springboks down.

John Mitchell, All Blacks head coach

Rassie Erasmus has pointed to physicality as the foundation of South African rugby’s evolution, arguing that the Springboks’ edge comes from winning the collisions before the scoreboard moves.

Rassie Erasmus, Springboks director of rugby

Bottom line: Mitchell’s reset showed up in the Ellis Park opener; Erasmus’ physical blueprint showed up across the whole series. Over four Tests in 2026, the Springboks’ approach travelled better.

The state of the rivalry

South Africa leave the 2026 series with a 3–1 result, a +10 aggregate margin, and a template that has produced wins in two straight seasons. The All Blacks can point to the opener at Ellis Park as proof the gap is not structural — but a 3–1 loss is a loss, and the next meeting will carry genuine weight. For New Zealand’s coaching staff, the choice is clear: solve the Springboks’ physical game across a full series, or watch the rivalry’s highest peaks keep moving south.

Related reading: Rugby League Live 4: Still Works, Where to Buy, PS5

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Frequently asked questions

Who has the most wins in All Blacks vs Springboks history?

New Zealand lead the all-time series with 64 Test wins against South Africa’s 46, with 4 draws from 114 Tests.

What is the biggest win margin in the rivalry?

South Africa’s 43–10 win in September 2025 is the largest margin in the rivalry’s history — a 33-point result that reset expectations for every meeting since.

When is the next All Blacks vs Springboks match?

The 2026 four-Test series concluded on 12 September with South Africa’s 43–28 win in Baltimore (Yahoo Sports’ series schedule). The next Rugby Championship meeting between the sides has not yet been confirmed in published fixtures.

How many times have they met in Rugby World Cups?

The rivalry’s World Cup record includes the 1995 final (South Africa 15–12), the 2015 semi-final (New Zealand 20–18), and the 2023 final (South Africa 12–11) — three meetings that each shifted the rivalry’s narrative.

Where was the 2026 Springboks vs All Blacks series played?

The four Tests were played at Ellis Park in Johannesburg, in Cape Town, at FNB Stadium in Johannesburg, and at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore, United States.

What is the official name of the rivalry trophy?

The All Blacks and Springboks contest the Freedom Cup in the Rugby Championship.