Barrett looking forward to 'special tour' as All Blacks and Boks launch 'Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry'

The planned quadrennial tour will alternate between rugby union’s most successful two nations.

ON TOUR: New Zealand’s Jordie Barrett, Beauden Barrett and Scott Barrett celebrate. Pic: INPHO/Billy Stickland

Beauden Barrett is keen to be on the other side of a British & Irish Lions-type experience when the All Blacks rekindle their storied rivalry with the Springboks in an eight-game tour of South Africa next summer.

Both the New Zealand playmaker and South Africa’s back-to-back World Cup-winning captain Siya Kolisi drew on their experiences of playing against the Lions as the 2026 tour, dubbed “Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry” by promoters was confirmed for next August and September.

It will be the first of what is planned to be quadrennial tour alternating between rugby union’s most successful two nations playing four Test matches as well as tour games against South Africa’s URC franchises across August and September 2026.

Details of the All Blacks’ eight-match, five-week tour were confirmed on Thursday, hours after SANZAAR, organisers of the Southern Hemisphere’s previously annual Rugby Championship, enshrined the tour model into its four-year calendar to 2030, with the next renewal of the four-nation competition, also including Argentina and Australia, set for 2027, 2028 and 2029. South Africa will tour New Zealand in 2030.

Barrett’s All Blacks will kick off their 2026 tour against the Stormers in Cape Town on Friday, 7 August and play the Sharks, Bulls and Lions alongside a four Test series against the double world champions, beginning at Ellis Park, Johannesburg, next August 22.

Barrett referenced the 2017 Lions tour to his homeland when asked about the upcoming experience.

“It always is impressive watching or seeing how those players back up,” Barrett said of the Lions. “I don't know how much training they do between games, but I understand they have a lot of fun off the field, recover, it's almost a captain's run, and they're into it.

"So, yeah, we’ve touched on the larger squads required to do such a thing, and that's all part of it, but, yeah, what a challenge. It's such a unique opportunity with our NPC here, we have short turnarounds in some cases, five days, but it'll be shorter than that in these situations, so just being able to be on the road for that period of time, going throughout the entire country, going to places that a lot of the boys have never, in fact, the country for some, but a lot of the provincial states that none of the boys have been to.

“It's going to be a very special tour on that note.” 

Springboks captain Kolisi is relishing playing host this time around to a landmark tour on the scale of a Lions series next August.

“This is going to be something huge and something this generation will never forget,” Kolisi said. “These are the tours we’ve only heard of. To experience this for the first time, where it’s like a Lions tour, is unbelievable for us as a group.

“I have no doubt the Springbok fans will be there waiting to welcome the All Blacks fans to South Africa. Let’s get excited; let’s get behind it and, people of South Africa, it’s an opportunity for us to show the world once again who we are and what we are about – we certainly can’t wait for it.” Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry tour fixtures 2026 

Friday, August 7: Stormers v New Zealand, DHL Stadium, Cape Town 

Tuesday, August 11: Sharks v New Zealand, Kings Park, Durban 

Saturday, August 15: Bulls v New Zealand, Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria 

Saturday, August 22: South Africa v New Zealand, Ellis Park, Johannesburg (first Test) 

Tuesday, August 25: Lions v New Zealand, Ellis Park, Johannesburg 

Saturday, August 29: South Africa v New Zealand, DHL Stadium, Cape Town (second Test) 

Saturday, September 5: South Africa v New Zealand, FNB Stadium, Johannesburg (third Test) 

Saturday, September 12: South Africa v New Zealand. Venue TBA (fourth Test)