{"id":219685,"date":"2025-10-17T07:34:15","date_gmt":"2025-10-17T07:34:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/219685\/"},"modified":"2025-10-17T07:34:15","modified_gmt":"2025-10-17T07:34:15","slug":"the-12-previous-greatest-rivalry-series","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/219685\/","title":{"rendered":"The 12 previous Greatest Rivalry series"},"content":{"rendered":"

There is plenty of excitement and expectation following the confirmation of New Zealand\u2019s tour to South Africa in 2026 and the continuation of rugby union\u2019s \u2018Greatest Rivalry\u2019 by virtue of a Test series.<\/p>\n

Matches between these two giants of the game are usually closely contested and thrilling affairs, and these countries have faced off against each other for more than a hundred years.<\/p>\n

The All Blacks<\/a> and Springboks<\/a> have been battling it out at international level since 1921, with the first official Test between them taking place in Dunedin.<\/p>\n

Since then, the arch rivals have faced each other in 12 series, with New Zealand and South Africa hosting six of those apiece.<\/p>\n

Over the years, the respective nations have won five series each and, interestingly, the first two series \u2013 in 1921, in New Zealand, and 1928, in South Africa \u2013 ended as draws.<\/p>\n

The Springboks clinched their only series victory on New Zealand soil in 1937, while the All Blacks had to wait until 1996 to claim that momentous achievement in South Africa.<\/p>\n

Scott Robertson: Playing the Springboks away is the \u2018greatest challenge\u2019 as All Blacks brace for \u2018once-in-a-lifetime\u2019 experience<\/a><\/p>\n

Overall, the All Blacks and Boks have faced each other in 110 Tests between 1921 and 2025, with New Zealand winning 63, South Africa 43 and there have been four draws between the sides.<\/p>\n

However, in the 12 previous series between the nations from 1921 to 1996, the Boks have won 21 Tests, the All Blacks 19, while three of those encounters were drawn.<\/p>\n

Aggregate scoreline over the Tests:<\/p>\n

\"Aggregate<\/p>\n

Aggregate Score: Springboks 458-384 All Blacks<\/p>\n

Results during the previous All Blacks and Springboks series<\/p>\n

1921 in New Zealand, the series ended in a 1-1 draw<\/p>\n

First Test in Dunedin: All Blacks 13-5 Springboks
Second Test in Auckland: All Blacks 5-9 Springboks
Third Test in Wellington: All Blacks 0-0 Springboks<\/p>\n

1928 in South Africa, the series ended in a 2-2 draw<\/p>\n

First Test in Durban: Springboks 17-0 All Blacks
Second Test in Johannesburg: Springboks 6-7 All Blacks
Third Test in Port Elizabeth: Springboks 11-6 All Blacks
Fourth Test in Cape Town: Springboks 5-13 All Blacks<\/p>\n

1937 in New Zealand, the Springboks won the series 2-1<\/p>\n

First Test in Wellington: All Blacks 13-7 Springboks
Second Test in Christchurch: All Blacks 6-13 Springboks
Third Test in Auckland: All Blacks 6-17 Springboks<\/p>\n

Rassie Erasmus refutes \u2018arrogance\u2019 claims as Springboks and All Blacks announce Rugby\u2019s Greatest Rivalry series<\/a><\/p>\n

1949 in South Africa, the Springboks won the series 4-0<\/p>\n

First Test in Cape Town: Springboks 15-11 All Blacks
Second Test in Johannesburg: Springboks 12-6 All Blacks
Third Test in Durban: Springboks 9-3 All Blacks
Fourth Test in Port Elizabeth: Springboks 11-8 All Blacks<\/p>\n

1956 in New Zealand, the All Blacks won the series 3-1<\/p>\n

First Test in Dunedin: All Blacks 10-6 Springboks
Second Test in Wellington: All Blacks 3-8 Springboks
Third Test in Christchurch: All Blacks 17-10 Springboks
Fourth Test in Auckland: All Blacks 11-5 Springboks<\/p>\n

Rugby Championship Team of the Year: Nine Springboks and three All Blacks as Eben Etzebeth \u2018sets every standard\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n

1960 in South Africa, the Springboks won the series 2-1<\/p>\n

First Test in Johannesburg: Springboks 13-0 All Blacks
Second Test in Cape Town: Springboks 3-11 All Blacks
Third Test in Bloemfontein: Springboks 11-11 All Blacks
Fourth Test in Port Elizabeth: Springboks 8-3 All Blacks<\/p>\n

1965 in New Zealand, the All Blacks won the series 3-1<\/p>\n

First Test in Wellington: All Blacks 6-3 Springboks
Second Test in Dunedin: All Blacks 13-0 Springboks
Third Test in Christchurch: All Blacks 16-19 Springboks
Fourth Test in Auckland: All Blacks 20-3 Springboks<\/p>\n

1970 in South Africa, the Springboks won the series 3-1<\/p>\n

First Test in Pretoria: Springboks 17-6 All Blacks
Second Test in Cape Town: Springboks 8-9 All Blacks
Third Test in Port Elizabeth: Springboks 14-3 All Blacks
Fourth Test in Johannesburg: Springboks 20-17 All Blacks<\/p>\n

1976 in South Africa, the Springboks won the series 3-1<\/p>\n

All Blacks legend reveals the Rassie Erasmus ploy which Scott Robertson is copying<\/a><\/p>\n

First Test in Durban: Springboks 16-7 All Blacks
Second Test in Bloemfontein: Springboks 9-15 All Blacks
Third Test in Cape Town: Springboks 15-10 All Blacks
Fourth Test in Johannesburg: Springboks 15-14 All Blacks<\/p>\n

1981 in New Zealand, the All Blacks won the series 2-1<\/p>\n

First Test in Christchurch: All Blacks 14-9 Springboks
Second Test in Wellington: All Blacks 12-24 Springboks
Third Test in Auckland: All Blacks 25-22 Springboks<\/p>\n

1994 in New Zealand, the All Blacks won the series 2-0<\/p>\n

First Test in Dunedin: All Blacks 22-14 Springboks
Second Test in Wellington: All Blacks 13-9 Springboks
Third Test in Auckland: All Blacks 18-18 Springboks<\/p>\n

1996 in South Africa, the All Blacks won the series 2-1<\/p>\n

First Test in Durban: Springboks 19-23 All Blacks
Second Test in Pretoria: Springboks 26-33 All Blacks
Third Test in Johannesburg: Springboks 32-22 All Blacks<\/p>\n

OVERALL RESULTS<\/p>\n

\"All<\/p>\n

READ MORE: Rugby\u2019s Greatest Rivalry: Details of All Blacks\u2019 eight-game tour of South Africa confirmed<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"There is plenty of excitement and expectation following the confirmation of New Zealand\u2019s tour to South Africa in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":219686,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[567],"tags":[64,63,1379,818,1182,1736,44,760,1183,85],"class_list":["post-219685","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-rugby","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-features","tag-home-page","tag-internationals","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-rugby","tag-south-africa","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/219685","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=219685"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/219685\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/219686"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=219685"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=219685"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=219685"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}