Overview
- The All Blacks arrived in South Africa and received a rapturous welcome in Cape Town on Friday, with several thousand fans attending an open event at Cape Town Stadium.
- SA Rugby has rolled out fan and cultural programming, including a schools war‑cry competition that will see four winning schools answer the haka at the provincial matches.
- Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus named a 26‑man squad to travel to Argentina that includes returning stars Siya Kolisi, Sacha Feinberg‑Mngomezulu, Lood de Jager, Eben Etzebeth and Morne van den Berg.
- Coaches from both countries will use the one‑off Test in Buenos Aires on August 8 and the United Rugby Championship franchise games (starting with Stormers v All Blacks on August 7) to assess fitness, blood fringe players and set the final Test selections.
- The tour’s schedule features four provincial fixtures followed by three Tests in South Africa from August 22 to September 5 and a fourth Test in Baltimore on September 12, creating a heavy rotation and workload challenge for both squads.