Springbok fixtures, venues for 2027 All Blacks Tests ‘leaked’?

The Springboks recently wrapped up a series win over the All Blacks during a new-look season that has included Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry series and the Nations Championship.

Next year will be another huge year as the Springboks head into their World Cup title defence, while the Rugby Championship will be played out before this global tournament.

Although the fixtures for next July have yet to be officially released, All Blacks coach Dave Rennie has inadvertently ‘leaked’ what’s in store.

Speaking to Newstalk, Rennie revealed that the Springboks are in line to visit Auckland and Christchurch.

“We play each other twice in July, straight after the Super Rugby final, like two weeks after that final,” Rennie said. “We play them in Auckland and Christchurch.

“We’re going to play them a lot leading into the World Cup and I think their side may look a tad different, but I think the nucleus will be the same and how they play the game, I think it’ll still be pretty similar,” Rennie said.

“And (we’re) likely to meet in a quarter-final if both teams win their pool, which is odd, but the way it is.” 

Springboks and All Blacks occupy top two spots in the world rankings

Although the Springboks strengthened their lead at top of the World Rugby rankings after the series win over New Zealand, the recent loss to Australia did see them drop a couple of points.

HERE IS HOW THE LATEST RANKINGS LOOK

Rank	Country	Points
1	South Africa	93.09
2	New Zealand	91.15
3	Ireland	88.08
4	France	87.43
5	England	85.68
6	Scotland	84.78
7	Australia	83.55
8	Argentina	82.24
9	Fiji	78.00
10	Wales	76.38
11	Italy	76.30
12	Japan	76.09
13	Georgia	73.94
14	USA	69.49
15	Portugal	69.39
16	Chile	66.94
17	Spain	66.83
18	Uruguay	65.75
19	Tonga	65.14
20	Samoa	64.73