Springboks v All Blacks: Nobody gives an inch

SOUTH AFRICA v NEW ZEALAND @ FNB STADIUM, SOWETO ON SATURDAY – KO 5.10PM

REFEREE

Nika Amashukeli (Georgia)

Test debut: 11 April, 2015 – Montenegro 29-27 Estonia

Tests as referee: 35

• Nika Amashukeli will take charge of this fixture for the second time, having overseen South Africa’s 43-10 victory in Wellington in the 2025 Rugby Championship.

• The Georgian official was due to take charge of the second Test in Cape Town last weekend but due to illness he switched matches with Angus Gardner (Australia).

• South Africa have a W3, L1 record with Amashukeli in the middle, their solitary defeat coming at the hands of Ireland, 19-16 in the 2022 Autumn Nations Series.

• The Springboks’ other victories came against Wales (32-29 in July 2022) and Argentina (24-13 in a Rugby World Cup 2023 warm-up match).

• New Zealand are bidding to avoid a hat-trick of consecutive defeats with the Georgian in the middle, having lost to France 30-29 in the 2024 Autumn Nations Series before the defeat in Wellington last year.

• Their other defeat came in August 2022 on an historic day for Amashukeli as he became the first Georgian official to referee in the Rugby Championship with Argentina’s 25-18 victory in Christchurch – their first over the All Blacks on New Zealand soil.

• New Zealand’s three victories with Amashukeli as referee have come against Japan (38-31 in October 2022), England (16-15 in July 2024) and Australia (33-13 in the 2024 Rugby Championship).

• This will be Amashukeli’s fourth Test of the year, having taken charge of England twice in Guinness Men’s Six Nations – 31-20 v Scotland and 48-46 v France – before overseeing Scotland’s 47-38 victory over Argentina in Cordoba in July.

HEAD-TO-HEAD

1921-2026 | Played 112 | South Africa 44 | New Zealand 64 | Draw 4

Points for: South Africa 1 899/New Zealand 2 328 (Avg. score: 17-21)

Highest score: South Africa 46 (46-40 on 19 August, 2000) / New Zealand 57 (57-15 on 8 October, 2016 and 57-0 on 16 September, 2017)

Biggest winning margin: South Africa 33 (43-10 on 13 September, 2025) / New Zealand 57 (57-0 on 16 September, 2017)

First met: 13 August, 1921 – New Zealand 13-5 South Africa – Carisbrook, Dunedin

• The winning team has scored 33 points in each of the first two Tests in the Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry series.

• The team with the lowest share of possession and territory has won both matches.

• Both teams got their penalty count into single figures from one week to the next – South Africa reducing theirs from 10 to 5 and New Zealand from 14 to 8.

• Last week South Africa turned the tables on the All Blacks but were once again outscored on the try count, 4-3.

• Cheslin Kolbe made it 11 kicks from 11 in the series by converting all three of the Springboks’ tries and slotting four penalties.

• Jesse Kriel, Damian de Allende and captain Siya Kolisi crossed in the first half as South Africa went into half-time with a 24-14 lead.

• South Africa scored tries in three of their five visits into the All Blacks’ 22, averaging 4.8 points per visit (New Zealand averaged 2.8 points from nine visits).

• Ruben Love converted first-half tries from Cam Roigard and Damian McKenzie before Leroy Carter and captain Ardie Savea added two more in a final quarter flourish from the All Blacks.

• Lood de Jager became the third Springbok to be shown a yellow card in the series when he was found guilty of making head contact in a high tackle on Leroy Carter a minute from time.

• New Zealand made 50% more carries than South Africa (154-103) and 207 more post contact metres (494-287).

• New Zealand enjoyed their biggest win over South Africa in nine years in the opening Test in Johannesburg, since they ran out 57-0 winners in North Harbour in September 2017.

• It was the All Blacks’ biggest win over the Springboks in South Africa in a decade, since the 57-15 victory in Durban the previous year.

• New Zealand scored an average of 3.6 points for each of their nine entries into the opposition 22, whereas the Springboks only mustered 0.7 points for each of their 10 visits.

• South Africa played with 13 men for a couple of minutes in the final quarter, after yellow cards to Marco van Staden and Cobus Reinach overlapped.

• New Zealand scored seven unanswered points during that period, with Will Jordan touching down for the second time in the match.

• Fellow wing Josh Moorby, second-row Fabian Holland and openside Luke Jacobson scored the remainder of the All Blacks’ tries, while Love kicked four conversions.

• Kolbe kicked three penalties and converted Andre Esterhuizen’s try for South Africa.

• Sixteen points was South Africa’s lowest score in the five meetings since they beat New Zealand 12-11 in the Rugby World Cup 2023 final.

• New Zealand trailed 13-12 at half-time – the first time in five meetings that this has been the case.

• The teams will meet for a fourth and final time in the series at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore, USA, on 12 September.

SA TEAM NOTES

• South Africa scored as many points in winning 33-16 last weekend as they had done in their two previous matches combined (26).

• South Africa have only lost three of their last 24 tests (38-22 v Australia and 24-17 v New Zealand in 2025 and 33-16 v New Zealand last month).

• South Africa conceded five tries in a Test for the first time in 15 matches in losing 33-16 to New Zealand in the first Test.

• It was only the second time in 89 matches that they have conceded more than four tries in a Test and the fourth occasion since Rassie Erasmus first took charge in June 2018.

• The defeat ended South Africa’s 12-match winning streak – their best sequence of results under Erasmus and the most consecutive wins since they achieved 13 in a row between 2007-08.

• South Africa conceded multiple yellow cards in a single match for the first time in 24 Tests in the opening encounter with New Zealand.

• South Africa have yet to trail at half-time in 2026 (W4, D2), with their first-half points total ranging from 10 to 24.

• South Africa went into the latest Test campaign, which began with a 17-10 win over Argentina, sitting on top of the Nations Championship southern hemisphere standings on points difference, having picked up maximum points from their first three fixtures.

• The Springboks’ points difference is +81, 30 better than fellow unbeaten side New Zealand.

• With the win over Scotland in round two, South Africa became the first team since England in 2002-03 to beat every Men’s Six Nations and Rugby Championship team in a 12-month period.

• South Africa scored the most points (130) and tries (20) in the Nations Championship in July.

• Strong starters and finishers, seven of South Africa’s tries were scored in the first quarter and seven in the final quarter.

• The Springboks had the most entries into the opposition 22 across the first three rounds (43).

SQUAD NOTES

• Eben Etzebeth will extend his record as the most-capped Springbok of all time to 145 Tests when he takes the field in Soweto.

• The loose-forward trio of Kolisi, new centurion Pieter-Steph du Toit and Jasper Wiese will pass the record they currently share with Francois Louw, Willem Alberts, and Duane Vermeulen as the trio with the most test starts at 17 – three more than Springbok coach Erasmus, Andre Venter and Gary Teichmann.

• Thirty-nine-year-old Deon Fourie last weekend became the oldest Springbok player to feature in a Test match.

• With Damian Willemse sidelined due to injury, Kolbe starts at fullback for only the third time in what will be his 53rd Test.

• The two previous occasions were against Ireland in a 19-16 loss in November 2022 and, more recently, the 61-7 win over Japan at Wembley Stadium in London last November.

COACH NOTES

• Erasmus returned to the Springbok head coach role in February 2024, signing a contract that takes him through to the end of 2027.

• The win over Les Bleus at the Stade de France on 8 November was his 50th as head coach.

• He has overseen 33 Tests in his second spell, winning 28 and losing five (84.8%).

• Overall, he has been in charge of 56 Tests (head coach/director of rugby) and moved past Jake White as the Springboks’ most experienced coach during the Nations Championship.

• Erasmus was the mastermind behind the Springboks’ back-to-back Rugby World Cup successes of 2019 and 2023 – as head coach and then director of rugby.

• He also led South Africa to their first Rugby Championship title in five years in 2024 and a clean sweep of victories in the Autumn Nations Series that followed.

• His first reign in charge started with a defeat to Wales in Washington DC in June 2018.

• Erasmus won 36 caps for South Africa as a back-row forward from 1997-2001.

NZ TEAM NOTES

• New Zealand’s five-match winning run in Tests ended when they were beaten 33-26 by the Springboks in Cape Town last weekend.

• It was Dave Rennie’s first defeat since he took on the head coach role.

• It was also their first defeat on tour, having won all four provincial matches (38-21 v Stormers, 54-0 v Sharks, 50-19 v Bulls and 41-35 v Lions) in addition to the first Test win over the Springboks.

• New Zealand have scored 25 points or more in each of their last 10 tests.

• New Zealand scored four tries against the Springboks last weekend, taking their tally for the year to 27 from five matches.

• The All Blacks won all three of their games in the Nations Championship Southern Hemisphere Series preceding this tour – beating France 34-32, Italy 47-17 and Ireland 40-21 with a bonus point to sit second, behind South Africa only on points difference.

• New Zealand kept the ball in hand across those three matches, making the most passes (723), carries (599), metres (1 767) and post-contact metres (581).

• New Zealand are ranked first in the competition for defenders beaten (126) and are second for clean breaks (46).

• Only two teams kicked the ball fewer times in open play than the All Blacks’ total of 57 but they have executed the most 50:22s (three).

• New Zealand retained the joint-highest percentage of kicks (15.79%, along with Australia and Ireland).

• Jordan is the leading try scorer in the Nations Championship with six, his hat-trick against Italy seeing him break Doug Howlett’s long-standing record of 49 tries for the All Blacks.

• Jordan now has 53 tries in just 59 Tests, giving him a strike rate of 0.90 tries per game.

• His try in the 40-21 win over Ireland preserved the All Blacks’ 32-year unbeaten record at Eden Park.

• Patrick Tuipulotu, Savea and Asafo Aumua also crossed in the first half before McKenzie and Anton Lienert-Brown went over in the second.

• New Zealand scored seven tries in round two against Italy, with Sam Darry, Roigard, Ethan de Groot and Tupou Vaa'i crossing the line in addition to Jordan’s treble.

• New Zealand overcame France 34-32 in Christchurch in round one to get Rennie’s reign as All Blacks head coach off to a winning start.

• Jordan and Roigard scored twice as the All Blacks profited from having the highest percentage of quick ruck ball in round one (81%).

SQUAD NOTES

• Vaa’i will bring up 50 Tests for the All Blacks this weekend, having made his debut in the 16-16 draw with Australia in October 2020.

• Asafo Aumua earns a rare start at hooker, only his sixth in total and the first since the 23-13 win over Ireland in November 2024.

• Replacements Wallace Sititi, Sam Darry and Samisoni Taukei’aho are all set for their first appearances in the Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry Test series.

• Savea’s try last weekend means that he and brother Julian have now scored a combined 79 Test tries, taking them past the Barrett brothers on 78 as the siblings with the most.

• he All Blacks captain also drew level with former Uruguay captain and coach Diego Ormaechea as the forward with most tries in men’s Test history (33).

COACH NOTES

• Rennie was appointed as Scott Robertson’s successor in March, the first person of Pasifika heritage to hold the role of All Blacks head coach.

• Rennie led Kobe Steelers to the Japan Rugby League One title in June before officially starting his new role with the All Blacks.

• Rennie coached Australia from late 2019 to early 2023, winning just 13 of his 34 Tests in charge (38%) – giving him the lowest winning record of any Wallabies coach with at least 30 Tests.

• The three wins over South Africa were the highlight of his time in charge, while a first-ever Wallabies’ defeat to Italy was probably the low point.

• Before taking on the Australia job, Rennie coached Glasgow for three years and led them to the PRO14 final in 2019, playing an attacking brand of rugby.

• Having cut his coaching teeth as an assistant at Wellington Lions and the Hurricanes, Rennie led New Zealand to three consecutive Junior World Championship titles (2008-10) with 15 wins from 15.

DID YOU KNOW…?

• The FNB Stadium, formerly known as the National Stadium of South Africa, holds the record for the highest attendance for a Springbok home match during the professional era after a crowd of 94 713 watched the Tri-Nations defeat to New Zealand in August 2010.

• The teams have only met twice at the FNB Stadium, with the All Blacks winning both matches – 29-22 in 2010 and 32-16 in 2012.

WORLD RUGBY MEN’S RANKINGS PERMUTATIONS

• Rankings history will be created this weekend if New Zealand win the third Test to regain the No 1 ranking from South Africa.

• If this happens, it will be the first time since the rankings were introduced in October 2003 that there have been three consecutive weeks where the No 1 team has changed.

• South Africa go into this match in Soweto with a 0.54-point advantage over the All Blacks but that will increase to 3.38 points if they win by more than 15 points.

• A win for New Zealand by that margin would give them a 2.62-point cushion at the top.

• Neither South Africa nor New Zealand can end the weekend lower than second.

Springbok starting XV: 15 Cheslin Kolbe, 14 Kurt-Lee Arendse, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Ethan Hooker; 10 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, 9 Cobus Reinach; 8 Jasper Wiese, 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 6 Siya Kolisi (capt); 5 Ruan Nortje, 4 Eben Etzebeth; 3 Wilco Louw, 2 Malcolm Marx, 1 Ox Nche. Replacements: 16 Deon Fourie, 17 Gerhard Steenekamp, 18 Thomas du Toit, 19 Lood de Jager, 20 Andre Esterhuizen, 21 Cameron Hanekom, 22 Morne van den Berg, 23 Manie Libbok.

All Black starting XV: 15 Damian McKenzie, 14 Will Jordan, 13 Quinn Tupaea, 12 Jordie Barrett, 11 Leroy Carter; 10 Ruben Love, 9 Cam Roigard; 8 Ardie Savea (capt), 7 Luke Jacobson, 6 Peter Lakai; 5 Sam Darry, 4 Tupou Vaa’i; 3 Tyrel Lomax, 2 Asafo Aumua, 1 George Bower. Replacements: 16 Samisoni Taukei’aho, 17 Xavier Numia, 18 Fletcher Newell, 19 Fabian Holland, 20 Wallace Sititi, 21 Kyle Preston, 22 Anton Lienert-Brown, 23 Josh Moorby.

Springboks v All Blacks - Saturday @ FNB Stadium, Soweto (5.10pm)

Referee: Nika Amashukeli (Georgia)

Assistant referees: Angus Gardner (Australia), Christophe Ridley (England)

Television Match Official: Eric Gauzins (FFR)

Split Screen/FPRO: Brett Cronan (RA)