Boks put mighty US dollar ahead of home fans

The revival of multi-match blockbuster old-school-style rugby tours of SA by the All Blacks is set to smash attendance records and gate receipts in Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry series in 2026. Three of the Tests will be played in SA and the fourth and final showdown will take place in the US city of Baltimore. There has been fierce criticism that the series could potentially be decided on foreign soil rather than in Gqeberha, Durban, or Bloemfontein.

An argument has been put forward that it would have been preferable to have staged a three-Test series with the winners being crowned in SA. In an era of professional rugby, however, the money men who rule the game decided to put the power of the mighty US dollar ahead of the interests of fans in their heartland. Sellout crowds will watch the three Tests in SA at Ellis Park (63,000 capacity), Cape Town Stadium (55,000) and FNB Stadium (94,000).

The fourth Test also ensures that the third game of the series will not be a dead rubber even if one of the teams wins the opening encounters in Johannesburg and Cape Town. The four matches the All Blacks play against SA’s four United Rugby Championship teams — the Stormers, Sharks, Lions and Bulls — will also attract massive crowds. In the old days, a match between a touring team and Northern Transvaal was regarded as a fifth Test; this element of competitiveness must be retained.

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The 1970 All Blacks, led by Brian Lochore, played 24 matches in SA during a tour that lasted more than two months. Though Gqeberha has not been given the nod to host any All Black matches in 2026, it is believed Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium is in the frame to stage a clash between an SA XV and the touring New Zealand Maoris. With the 2027 Rugby World Cup in Australia on the horizon, the stakes could not be higher for the Boks and All Blacks in the months ahead.

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