Rugby's Greatest Rivalry Tour Odds - South Africa favourites ahead of New Zealand's four-match tour

Ralph Staniforth

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Last updated: 2 hours ago

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Ralph Staniforth 2 hours ago

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2026 sees All Blacks tour South Africa, reviving a classic rivalry format.
Springboks heavily favored to win (odds: 1.36), All Blacks at 8.50.
First tour of this kind since 1996; series includes Tests in SA and one in the USA.

New Zealand vs South Africa rugby championship 2025

Springboks favourites ahead of 2026 Greatest Rivalry Tour (Getty Images)

Rugby's Greatest Rivalry tour officially kicks off on 7 August 2026 when New Zealand face South African URC franchise, the Stormers at the Cape Town Stadium.

The first Test match will take place at 10bet Ellis Park on 22 August, before which the All Blacks will face the Sharks and Bulls, as well as the Stormers in their opener. It is a tour that has been eagerly anticipated for the last 12 months when the decision was made to replace the 2026 Rugby Championship with this 'old school tour'.

The last time New Zealand toured South Africa for a three-match tour was in 1996, a series the All Blacks won 2-1 after winning the first two test matches. Since then, they have only competed in tournament rugby, tours ended once the Tri Nations, now Rugby Championship began.

While New Zealand hold an overall win record against South Africa, it is the Springboks who are at the top of world rugby at the moment and clear favourites to win the tour. The green and gold have also beaten their arch rivals in five of their last six encounters - the only All Black win in that stretch came in 2025 at Eden Park.

However, if there is one team that can compete with South Africa in their own backyard, it is the All Blacks, who have also shown some good form in 2026 under new their new coaching staff.

Below we take a brief look at the odds for the series winners via 10bet.

2026 Rugby's Greatest Rivalry Tour Odds

Three Test matches will be played in South Africa at Ellis Park, Soccer City and the Cape Town Stadium. The fourth game will take place in Baltimore, USA.

Team/Result	Odds
South Africa Win	1.36
New Zealand Win	8.50
Drawn Series	8.33

Odds correct as of 5 August 2026 with 10bet.

Ralph is from South Africa and studied Sports Science post school at ETA (Education Teachers Academy) in Cape Town.

He has always had a great passion for sport and this led him into the world of sports journalism, while coaching on the side. Since 2012 Ralph has worked as a journalist and covered many topics from business to sport.

Over the last seven years he has interviewed numerous top rugby and cricket players and coaches in South Africa.

Ralph has been betting on sports for the last ten years. He’s knowledgeable on numerous topics including football, rugby, cricket, tennis and golf.

He supports Manchester United (football), Cheetahs (rugby), Knights (cricket) and has a newly found appreciation for Dominic Thiem on the tennis courts.