All Blacks to soak up lessons of 1996 ahead of ‘Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry’ tour of South Africa
Monday, 20 July 2026
The entree has been devoured heartily. Now the main course awaits for Dave Rennie’s All Blacks who are going to lean heavily on the 1996 ‘Incomparables’ as they seek a whole new level of performance to live with the world champion, and in-form, Springboks through next month’s Greatest Rivalry four-test tour.
You can only take care of what’s in front of you, and to that end Rennie’s All Blacks wrapped up a successful July first half of the new Nations Championship competition with a 40-21 victory over Ireland at Eden Park on Saturday night that not only kept intact their unbeaten streak at their Auckland citadel, but made it four on the bounce against their northern rivals.
That made it three from three for the New Zealanders under their new coach, and a perfect 15 competition points banked after earlier victories over France (34-32) and Italy (47-17). Deliciously, the Boks did exactly the same by dispatching Wales 43-0 overnight to follow up earlier wins over England (45-21) and Scotland (42-28). The old rivals are fabulously poised for their seismic matchup.
Rennie’s men now get a week back home with families before reassembling, as an extended 44-strong group, in Auckland on Monday, July 27. They will be joined there by members of John Hart’s 1996 All Blacks who undertook the last full tour to the republic, and emerged with an historic, and memorable, 3-1 series victory.
Read more:
Those Bok conquerors will mingle with the All Blacks on assembly day, then dine with them in the evening, sharing stories of their ‘96 visit, and it’s peculiar challenges. It should set the New Zealanders up perfectly for the task ahead, and rewards in reach with the right application and delivery.
It’s a touring group that will be beefed up by the addition of, among others, Fabian Holland, Leicester Fainga’anuku, Rieko Ioane and Du’Plessis Kirifi who, fitness permitting, should be whistled up. That initial group will not include, Rennie confirmed, Richie Mo’unga whose only chance of contributing will be as an injury replacement, once he ticks off his NPC requirements.
“They’re a different beast, South Africa,” remarked Rennie as he cast his mind ahead. “They put a B side out last week that beat an excellent Scotland team. I’m excited. We’ve worked really hard, we’ve put a lot of detail into our game, and the boys have embraced it. We’re in a good spot.
“We’ve done a lot of planning and detail around [the tour]. The exciting thing is we’ll come out of Africa, regardless of the result, in a much better place. We’ll know a lot more about the boys, our game model and the detail within that. We’ll be able to really hone in on our culture, and we’ll make the most of that.”
The All Blacks appeared to make positive strides under the new coach. As well as a performance model that star back Damian McKenzie noted was “trending in the right direction“, they have nailed down Ruben Love and McKenzie in the playmaker roles, bedded in Josh Moorby as a fresh back-three face, re-established the midfield of Jordie Barrett and Quinn Tupaea and supersized the pack, Tupou Vaa’i’s shift to No 6 and introduction of Patrick Tuipulotu in a move that has Bok-stoppers written all over it.
Assistant (attack) coach Mike Blair said a tight group was set to get even closer as they embarked on the ultimate test in the game.
“It’s one of Dave’s super strengths, how he pulls a team together, and gets everyone tight,” he said on Sunday. “We’ll need that in South Africa where there will be 80-odd management and players. It will be us against the rest of South Africa, and we’ll have to be tight. There will be testing times with a schedule that’s going to accelerate our learning.”
As well as soaking up the experiences of the ‘96 All Blacks, Blair confirmed the coaching group had also spoken to the British and Irish Lions about their touring approach. The former Scots halfback went to South Africa with the 2009 Lions and said he had chipped in with lessons from that.
“We’re going to have to adapt, with midweek games. We’re going to ask guys to play Friday and back up and train on Saturday, or play back-to-back games. You’ve got to embrace that challenge … roll with the punches. It’s an experience that’s going to make us better.”
The All Blacks have already pencilled in potential lineups for the three pre-first-test games (Stormers, Sharks and Bulls) which Blair said would be a careful balance between assessing candidates and preparing for the internationals.
He also believes it will be a group capable of, like their ‘96 predecessors, emerging successfully from rugby’s sternest test.
“Now it’s how we get the guys rugby, how we get cohesion. You want to keep a test group together but you want to give opportunities to play their way in. It’s a fine balance, and a great chance to learn about players and how they react to different situations, and how resilient they are.”