SA Rugby president Mark Alexander believes Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry between the Springboks and the All Blacks can become bigger than the British & Irish Lions tours.
Alexander said the new eight-match concept launching this season elevates rugby’s most enduring rivalry into a global event. “This rivalry has always been the biggest in the game,” he said.
“If you structure it properly and take it to different markets, it can become bigger than the Lions tours.”
The schedule includes four Test matches: three in South Africa and a fourth in Baltimore, the US.
This rivalry has always been the biggest in the game. If you structure it properly and take it to different markets, it can become bigger than the Lions tours
— Mark Alexander, SA Rugby president
The All Blacks will also play the Bulls, Lions, Sharks and Stormers in their first tour to South Africa in 30 years.
The Boks will tour New Zealand in 2030, their first tour there since 1994.
World champs
“We’ve been the No 1-ranked team in the world for the past three years, and we are back-to-back world champions. This rivalry deserves a stage that reflects that,” said Alexander.
The two nations have won seven of the 10 World Cup titles.
Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry follows the launch of the Nations Championship in 2026, with the Boks playing England, Scotland and Wales in July in South Africa and Italy, Ireland and France away in November.
The championship climaxes with a finals weekend on the last weekend of November.
“It’s about strengthening the global calendar,” said Alexander. “South Africa wants to be central to that.”
Alignment camp success
Cape Town this week hosted the annual SA Rugby Awards, but the most important rugby event in Cape Town was the first Springboks alignment camp for the year.
Springboks coach Rassie Erasmus won 2025 coach of the year, but his narrative was about 2026 and 2027.
“The awards are great recognition for every individual and team, but this week’s alignment camp is the success story because of how the 49 invited players responded to the experience,” he said.
“This week sets the tone for the next World Cup cycle. We start 2026 against the Barbarians, and then we have 20 Tests until the opening match of the 2027 World Cup.”
It is a privilege to be in the training squad, but you quickly realise this is a different environment that demands a work ethic and excellence
— Morne van den Berg, Lions scrumhalf
Historical results won’t win Tests in 2026 or the World Cup in 2027. “The week was about hitting the reset button,” said double World Cup-winning captain Siya Kolisi.
“It doesn’t matter who you are, whether you have played 100 Tests or not played a Test; for everyone at the camp, it was about understanding expectations, reinforcing the culture, making a statement of the goals, and starting again.”
A demanding environment
Lions scrumhalf Morne van den Berg has been in outstanding form this season, but he said the camp was an immediate reminder of the intensity lift in this Springboks environment.
“There are so many good players and, in every position, there are guys fighting to be picked. It is a privilege to be in the training squad, but you quickly realise this is a different environment that demands a work ethic and excellence,” he said.
Stormers forwards Neethling Fouche and Ben-Jason Dixon spoke of the week’s inspiration in being a positive influence on renewed energy levels for the remainder of the United Rugby Championship (URC) and Champions Cup.
South Africa’s U-20 prop Kai Pratt said the pace and tempo of everything were the biggest difference to anything he had experienced. “It is intense but exciting,” he said. “You just want to learn, absorb as much as you can, and get out onto the field to show what you can do. It has been an incredible experience.”
Stormers playmaker and 2025 Springboks sensation Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu emphasised the educational and cultural aspects of the camp. “As younger players you get clarity very quickly. You understand exactly what the coaches expect,” he said.
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