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The All Blacks were very good in dismantling Ireland in Auckland to set the scene for next month’s Greatest Rivalry Tour to South Africa. The All Blacks play seven matches in South Africa, including Tests on three successive weekends. They complete the Test series with the fourth Test in four Saturday’s in Baltimore, USA. Ireland, in their final Nations Championship match of the season, were always going to be the biggest challenge in new All Blacks coach Dave Rennie’s first month in charge.

The Super Springboks match 23 to play Wales in Durban on Saturday has just two players starting in the same position from the team that demolished Wales 73-0 in Cardiff last November. Super Springboks The Boks completed their 2025 season by inflicting the heaviest defeat Wales had suffered at home. The depth of talent available to Springboks coach Rassie Erasmus is such that he has relied on just eight of the match 23 from 2025 to front Wales again in Saturday’s Nations Championship match.

Pieter-Steph du Toit is the gold standard bearer in world rugby. The Springboks giant  is the player of his generation and the best forward in the world. Du Toit, twice the World Player of the Year, captained South Africa against England and against Scotland in the opening two rounds of the Nations Championship. He also played in the Springboks season opener against the Barbarians.

The Springboks have beaten Scotland by 15 points at the 2023 Rugby World Cup in Marseilles, 17 points in Edinburgh in 2024 and 14 points in Pretoria in 2026. Across neutral, away and home venues, the average winning margin is 15.3 points. More remarkably, the Pretoria side that beat Scotland 42-28 in the Nations Championship retained just four players from the World Cup match-day 23 and four from the team that won in Edinburgh in 2024, yet still delivered virtually the same result.

SA Schools Rugby selections were confirmed after the completion of the Craven Week. The 52 players chosen for the SA Schools and SA Schools A come from 25 schools across the country. Western Province and Western Province XV played the unofficial final, which was won by Western Province. It was the first time in the 64 year history that two teams from the same province competed in the final showcase match of the tournament.

Will Jordan is the first All Blacks player to score 50 Test tries. He scored a hat trick against Italy in the Nations Championship to take his tries to five in two tournament matches. Will Jordan: 50 tries in 56 Tests The 28 year-old Jordan became the All Blacks’ record Test try-scorer when his hat-trick against Italy in Wellington in the Nations Championship took him past Doug Howlett’s previous record of 49. Jordan reached 50 tries in his 56th Test.

The Springboks beat Scotland 42-28 at Loftus in Pretoria in the Nations Championship. 5 players made a statement, with some enhancing their push towards bigger things in the Boks jersey and one showing why he has won the Boks jersey for so long. Top 5 Boks Grant Williams Williams is now the natural successor to Faf de Klerk. He is a must in the best match 23 for the Springboks, and equally comfortable starting or making an impact.

Galthie capped another French winger in Brisbane, with a first Test on the left wing for Pau’s Aaron Grandidier-Nkanang. He was excellent and got on the scoresheet. His club colleague, the 22 year-old Théo Attissogbe, was as good. Bordeaux’s Yoram Moefana is the first choice No 12. The depth among France’s backs is only matched by South Africa, although no country has the quality of No 9s in Dupont, Lucu, Nolann Le Garrec (who played the final 20 minutes) and Baptise Surin who did not play.

Stormers will travel to Bordeaux in the Pool rounds of the 2026/27 Investec Champions Cup. The Lions host French giants Toulouse and the Bulls will be at home to England’s Bath. The Bulls will play English Premiership Champions Northampton Saints away. The Lions, playing in the Investec Champions Cup for the first time, play La Rochelle in France and Saracens in London. Bordeaux won all eight tournament matches last season to defend the title they won the previous season.

Rassie Erasmus, after Saturday’s Nations Championship Test against Scotland, will hold every Springboks coaching record. Erasmus will move past Jake White’s 54 Tests to become the most capped Springboks coach in history. Rassie Erasmus Erasmus has overseen 93 Tests since his appointment as SA Rugby’s National Director of Rugby. He combined the roles of Director of Rugby and Head Coach in 2018 and 2019. His assistant coach of 2018 and 2019, Jacques Nienaber, took charge of the Boks from 2020 to 2023.