All Blacks begin South Africa Test series
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- The All Blacks face South Africa in the first Test at Ellis Park, Johannesburg on Saturday, followed by Tests in Cape Town and Johannesburg, plus a fourth match in Baltimore on September 12 — the first time the two have met on American soil.
- Rassie Erasmus' Springboks sit top of the world rankings, have won four World Cups, and have been world number one since November 2024 — New Zealand haven't won a Test series in South Africa since 1996 (just four wins there since 2016).
- South Africa and New Zealand will stage these tours every four years (next in 2030), explicitly aiming to rival British and Irish Lions tours commercially — last year's Lions tour earned Australia Rugby $35m in profit.
- A Deloitte report obtained by Stuff found Super Rugby Pacific is "under strain economically, commercially, and in delivering on its high performance purpose," with all five New Zealand provinces cumulatively unprofitable across the past six years.
- Dave Rennie, three Tests into his New Zealand tenure, led warm-up wins over the Stormers (38-21), Sharks (54-0) and Bulls (50-19), but Will Jordan and Cam Roigard are yet to feature on tour.
Why it matters: South Africa and New Zealand scrapped the Rugby Championship to bank on their rivalry as a product, explicitly targeting the British and Irish Lions' commercial model — last year's Lions tour made Australia Rugby $35m. The timing comes as a Deloitte report declares Super Rugby Pacific 'under strain economically,' raising the stakes for both unions' bottom lines.
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