All Blacks v Springboks: Live Commentary on Newstalk ZB

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Author: Newstalk ZB,
Publish Date: Fri, 21 Aug 2026, 12:55pm

The All Blacks and Springboks will finally face each other during Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry Tour.

Sunday morning will see them clash at Johannesburg's Ellis Stadium, the All Blacks coming in on a hot streak with three wins under their belt.

Will Head Coach Dave Rennie be able to keep the streak alive? Or will the back-to-back World Champions prove their dominance on their home turf?

Newstalk ZB will be bringing you all the action, Elliott Smith and Gregor Paul providing live commentary from 3am Sunday.

All you need to know

Fans of the All Blacks can look back fondly on their last tour to the continent in 1996, when they won the test series 2-1, but recent results have not been so kind.

The Springboks have won four of the past five meetings between the teams, a run of victories which includes the 2023 Rugby World Cup final and the 43-10 demolition job in Wellington.

The poor run of form against the African nation goes back slightly further for the All Blacks, with the last time New Zealand put in two consecutive victories against their rival coming in the form of a 35-23 victory in Cape Town in August 2022 and a 35-20 win at Eden Park in July 2023.

Ardie Savea will lead his side out in Johannesburg after a strong run of form since being named captain under Dave Rennie with three consecutive test victories.

The 32-year-old has captained the All Blacks against the Springboks before in the 100th test between the two sides in Townsville, where the men in black secured a 19-17 victory.

The 2024 World Rugby Men’s 15s Player of the Year, Pieter-Steph du Toit, will lead the Springboks out at Ellis Park, having captained his nation twice before in his 95 test matches.

The Springboks have been on a very strong run, losing just two matches since June 2025, with the defeats coming against the All Blacks and Wallabies.

Since their last loss, which came at Eden Park in September 2025, South Africa have won 12 tests in a row, scoring 508 points and conceding 177 across those games.

All Blacks v Springboks history

Played – 110

All Blacks won – 63

Springboks won – 43

Draws – 4

All Blacks points scored – 2296

Springboks points scored – 1847

All Blacks v Springboks last five meetings

2025 – All Blacks 10 Springboks 43, Wellington

2025 – All Blacks 24 Springboks 17, Auckland

2024 – All Blacks 12 Springboks 18, Cape Town

2024 – All Blacks 27 Springboks 31, Johannesburg

2023 – All Blacks 11 Springboks 12, Paris (World Cup final)

All Blacks v Springboks line-ups

All Blacks: 1. Ethan de Groot, 2. Codie Taylor, 3. Tyrel Lomax, 4. Josh Lord, 5. Fabian Holland, 6. Tupou Vaa’i, 7. Luke Jacobson, 8. Ardie Savea (c), 9. Cam Roigard, 10. Ruben Love, 11. Josh Moorby, 12. Jordie Barrett, 13. Quinn Tupaea, 14. Will Jordan, 15. Damian McKenzie.

Bench: 16. Asafo Aumua, 17. George Bower, 18. Fletcher Newell, 19. Anton Segner, 20. Peter Lakai, 21. Kyle Preston, 22. Anton Lienert-Brown, 23. Leroy Carter.

Springboks: 1. Ox Nche, 2. Malcolm Marx, 3. Wilco Louw, 4. Eben Etzebeth, 5. Ruan Nortje, 6. Paul de Villiers, 7. Pieter-Steph du Toit (c), 8. Jasper Wiese, 9. Grant Williams, 10. Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, 11. Kurt-Lee Arendse, 12. Damian de Allende, 13. Jesse Kriel, 14. Cheslin Kolbe, 15. Damian Willemse.

Bench: 16. Jan-Hendrik Wessels, 17. Gerhard Steenekamp, 18. Zachary Porthen, 19. Cobus Wiese, 20. Andre Esterhuizen, 21. Marco van Staden, 22. Cobus Reinach, 23. Manie Libbok.

Form guide (past five matches)

All Blacks:

Beat Bulls 50-19

Beat Sharks 54-0

Beat Stormers 38-21

Beat Ireland 40-21

Beat Italy 47-17

Springboks:

Beat Argentina 17-10

Beat Wales 43-0

Beat Scotland 42-28

Beat England 45-21

Beat Barbarians 80-31

All Blacks v Springboks referee

Englishman Matthew Carley will take charge of the first test between the two nations after being in the middle for the All Blacks’ fixture against the Sharks. That game saw the tourists cross over for eight tries and stayed well disciplined, but they have struggled against South Africa when Carley has the whistle, losing all three times he’s refereed their matches against the Springboks.