All Blacks End South Africa's 12-Test Winning Run With a 33-16 Win at Ellis Park
Five tries to one, and a 13-12 half-time deficit turned around after the break. Will Jordan scored twice as New Zealand went 1-0 up in a four-Test series that finishes in Baltimore.
New Zealand beat South Africa 33-16 at Ellis Park on 22 August, ending the Springboks' 12-Test winning streak and taking a 1-0 lead in the four-Test series billed as Rugby's Greatest Rivalry.
How it turned
South Africa led 13-12 at half-time. New Zealand then scored the only points that mattered after the break and finished with five tries to one.
Will Jordan scored twice, with further tries for Josh Moorby, Fabian Holland and Luke Jacobson. Ruben Love kicked four conversions.
South Africa's points came through an Andre Esterhuizen try, a Cheslin Kolbe conversion and three Kolbe penalties.
The numbers behind it
New Zealand made 132 tackles to South Africa's 86 and won 14 turnovers to five, with only 39 per cent of territory. That is a defensive performance rather than a dominant one, and it is an unusual shape for a 17-point win over this opponent.
South Africa lost Kurt-Lee Arendse to a head injury assessment and Cheslin Kolbe also left the field.
Why there is no Rugby Championship this year
This is not a one-off. SANZAAR's 2026-2030 calendar made the Rugby Championship biennial, skipping 2026, 2028 and 2030 in favour of tours. The All Blacks are on an eight-match tour of South Africa, of which this four-Test series is the centrepiece. They have already beaten the Stormers 38-21, the Sharks 54-0 and the Bulls 50-19.
The rest of the series
- Tue 25 Aug - Lions v All Blacks, Ellis Park (midweek)
- Sat 29 Aug - Second Test, Cape Town Stadium
- Sat 5 Sep - Third Test, FNB Stadium, Johannesburg
- Sat 12 Sep - Fourth Test, M&T Bank Stadium, Baltimore
The last of those is the outlier: a Springboks-All Blacks Test played in the United States, on a ground neither side knows, three weeks into a long tour.
Following it on Playdash
Playdash prices every Test with match result, handicap, total points, winning margin bands and first and anytime try scorer, plus half-time and full-time doubles. Series markets on the outright winner, the correct series score and a 4-0 whitewash run through to the Baltimore finale.
Score, try scorers and series schedule as published on 24 August 2026; no attendance figure has been published for the Ellis Park Test.