A revival of long-haul tours between South Africa and New Zealand could result in the Rugby Championship only being held every other year.
The South African Rugby Union has announced a plan to host the All Blacks for eight matches, external – featuring games against provincial and South Africa A sides and a three-Test series – in 2026.
The Springboks would travel to New Zealand on a similar itinerary in 2030 in a concept being tagged as ‘The Greatest Rugby Rivalry’.
“[Rugby Championship organisers] Sanzaar haven’t finalised any of that, but I think that you’d be focusing more on series trophies rather than a Rugby Championship trophy,” Rugby Australia chief executive Phil Waugh told The Roar , externalwhen asked what the plans meant for the Wallabies.
He added that he expected the Rugby Championship to take place in 2027 and 2029, but not in 2026, 2028 and 2030, with Australia instead hoping to host their own stand-alone tours in those years.
The Rugby Championship, usually held between early August and late September or early October, began in 1996. It was expanded to include Argentina in 2012.
It has previously been played in a shortened format because of Rugby World Cup scheduling and pandemic restrictions, but has never been fully removed from the annual fixture list.
As well as the launch of New Zealand and South Africa’s throwback tours, 2026 will mark the start of the Rugby Nations Championship – a new competition pitting the best of the northern and southern hemisphere against each other – as part of a global shake-up of the international calendar.
South Africa and New Zealand have won seven of the 10 Rugby World Cups between them, including the last five.
The last time either embarked on a large-scale tour of the other was in 1996, when a New Zealand touring party including the likes of Jonah Lomu and Christian Cullen won a test series in South Africa 2-1.
New Zealand coach Scott Robertson has described the potential return of such trips as “awesome”.
“A bit of an old-school tour, you’ve got a group of 60-odd, midweek and Tests,” he said.
“That’s a genuine tour, two biggest rivals. It’s a throwback in time and it’s what you need right now in world rugby.”
