{"id":692414,"date":"2026-01-13T03:45:12","date_gmt":"2026-01-13T03:45:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/692414\/"},"modified":"2026-01-13T03:45:12","modified_gmt":"2026-01-13T03:45:12","slug":"springboks-and-all-blacks-close-to-an-agreement-for-greatest-rivalry-series-finale","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/692414\/","title":{"rendered":"Springboks and All Blacks &#8216;close to an agreement&#8217; for Greatest Rivalry series finale"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><b>Rugby\u2019s Greatest Rivalry series could be decided in the United States of America, according to reports.<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Later this year, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.planetrugby.com\/team\/south-africa\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Springboks<\/a> will welcome the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.planetrugby.com\/team\/new-zealand\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">All Blacks<\/a> to South African shores with the New Zealanders tackling the back-to-back world champions in three <a href=\"https:\/\/www.planetrugby.com\/tournament\/international\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Test<\/a> matches in the republic.<\/p>\n<p>Scott Robertson\u2019s men will face all four of the United Rugby Championship franchises, the Stormers, Sharks, Bulls and Lions, respectively, with a fourth Test taking place on foreign soil.<\/p>\n<p>USA take the lead to host Springboks-All Blacks\u2019 decider<\/p>\n<p>SA Rugby and NZ Rugby unveiled details of the tour in October with the Springboks and All Blacks locking horns at Ellis Park, DHL Stadium, and FNB Stadium in the three matches on South African soil \u2013 the first Test series between the two nations since 1996.<\/p>\n<p>The venue for the fourth and final international was not confirmed at the time, but many predicted that it would take place in the USA, Dublin or London.<\/p>\n<p>According to a report by <a rel=\"noopener nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.netwerk24.com\/sport\/rugby\/springbokke\/bokke-all-blacks-kan-mekaar-in-vsa-pak-20260110-0866\" target=\"_blank\">Rapport<\/a>, SA Rugby and NZ Rugby are \u2018close to an agreement\u2019 which will see the final Test match take place in the USA.<\/p>\n<p>The Springboks have twice played matches in America, facing the USA Eagles in Houston back in 2001 before playing Wales in Washington DC \u2013 Rassie Erasmus\u2019 first game as head coach in 2018.<\/p>\n<p class=\"px-3 xs:px-4 mt-3 mb-2 font-semibold leading-snug text-base text-title\"><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.planetrugby.com\/news\/beauden-barretts-pivotal-role-in-covering-21-million-all-blacks-hole-after-shock-jim-ratcliffe-hook\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Beauden Barrett\u2019s pivotal role in covering $21 million All Blacks hole after shock Jim Ratcliffe hook<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>More recently, the All Blacks collided with Ireland at Soldier Field in Chicago in November 2025, a rematch of the two sides meeting at the same ground back in 2016, when Ireland claimed their first-ever win over New Zealand.<\/p>\n<p>The Eagles also hosted the New Zealanders in 2014 and 2021, with the All Blacks winning 74-6 and 104-14, respectively.<\/p>\n<p>The report states that the exact venue in the USA has not been decided yet, but that such a Test match would generate great interest and support for rugby in the build-up to the 2031 Rugby World Cup.<\/p>\n<p class=\"my-1 text-sm font-semibold leading-snug text-title line-clamp-3 sm:mb-0 sm:text-[15px] sm:leading-5 sm:line-clamp-2\"><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.planetrugby.com\/news\/murray-mexted-all-blacks-jobs-on-the-line-for-greatest-rivalry-tour-in-what-will-be-scott-robertsons-hardest-challenge\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Murray Mexted: All Blacks \u2018jobs on the line\u2019 for Greatest Rivalry Tour in what will be Scott Robertson\u2019s \u2018hardest challenge\u2019<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>When New Zealand and Ireland faced off in Chicago last November, around 60,000 fans packed into Soldier Field, and it is understood that the All Blacks are eager to continue their brand growth in the US, with NZ Rugby and SA Rugby bosses hopeful that the game will be sold out.<\/p>\n<p>Only a handful of times have the two sides collided at a neutral venue outside of the World Cups. They faced off twice in Australia during the 2021 Rugby Championship due to the pandemic before meeting at Twickenham Stadium in London ahead of the 2023 Rugby World Cup.<\/p>\n<p>Want more from Planet Rugby? Add us as <a rel=\"noopener nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/preferences\/source?q=planetrugby.com\" target=\"_blank\">a preferred source on Google to your favourites list<\/a> for world-class coverage you can trust.<\/p>\n<p><b>READ MORE:\u00a0<\/b><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.planetrugby.com\/news\/43-year-old-maa-nonu-makes-outrageous-try-saving-intervention-as-all-blacks-legend-continues-to-defy-logic\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">43-year-old Ma\u2019a Nonu makes OUTRAGEOUS try-saving intervention as All Blacks legend continues to defy logic<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Rugby\u2019s Greatest Rivalry series could be decided in the United States of America, according to reports. Later this&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":692415,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4102],"tags":[225,90462,704,12,4151,2196,79,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-692414","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-rugby","8":"tag-home-page","9":"tag-internationals","10":"tag-new-zealand","11":"tag-news","12":"tag-rugby","13":"tag-south-africa","14":"tag-sports","15":"tag-uk","16":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115885737529003422","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/692414","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=692414"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/692414\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/692415"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=692414"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=692414"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=692414"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}