Cape Town is the next stop on the Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry tour as South Africa and New Zealand prepare for Saturday’s second test with the All Blacks leading the series 1-0.
South Africa vs New Zealand, Cape Town, Kick Off 16:10, Saturday 29th August
Match Officials (updated)
Referee: Angus Gardner (Australia)
Assistant referees: Karl Dickson (England), Sam Grove-White (Scotland)
TMO: Brett Cronan (Australia)
Weather Forecast – Cape Town
South Africa:
The first test took place in Johannesburg last week and although South Africa were 7.5 point favourites it was the All Blacks who drew first blood in this 4 match series with a 33-16 victory.
Suth Africa managed just the one try through Esterhuizen which was converted by Kolbe who also landed 3 penalties. There was only 1 point in it at half time with the Boks edging it but they eventually paid the price for missed opportunities with the All Blacks going on to score 5 tries in total. The only two cards of the game were both yellow and came late on for Springboks Marco van Staden and Cobus Reinach. The total points line opened at 58.5 and settled at 56.5 and this was one for the “unders” backers.
After this the third test takes place in Soweto and the final contest will be staged in Baltimore in the USA. In terms of the betting to win the series Hollywoodbets now have South Africa at 17/10 (from 7/20), a tie is 16/10 (from 33/10) and New Zealand are 2/1 (from 15/2).
New Zealand:
Jordan (2), Moorby, Holland and Jacobson were the All Blacks try scorers in the first test with Love landing 4 conversions. The lead changed hands a few times during the game but it was the All Blacks who were more clinical and they were 10 points to the good before the Boks picked up two yellows in the 70th minute. Jordan’s second try moments later put the issue beyond doubt.
New Zealand had to dig deep for a 41-35 win over the Lions at Ellis Park on Tuesday night, the last of their provincial matches on this tour. Earlier matches against club sides saw the AB’s battle to see off the Stormers in Cape Town before wide margin wins over the Sharks and the Bulls.
Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry Results & Fixtures
Friday 7th August, Stormers 21-38 New Zealand (Cape Town Stadium)
Tuesday 11th August, Sharks 0-54 New Zealand (Kings Park, Durban)
Saturday 15th August, Bulls 19-50 New Zealand (Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria)
Saturday 22nd August, 1st test: South Africa 16-33 New Zealand (Ellis Park, Johannesburg)
Tuesday 25th August, Lions 35-41 New Zealand (Ellis Park, Johannesburg)
Saturday, 29th August, 2nd test: South Africa v New Zealand (Cape Town Stadium)
Saturday, 5th September, 3rd test: South Africa v New Zealand (FNB Stadium, Soweto)
Saturday, 12th September, 4th test: South Africa v New Zealand (Baltimore, USA)
Head to Head Results
Aug 2026 RGR Johannesburg South Africa 16-33 New Zealand
Sep 2025 RC Wellington New Zealand 10-43 South Africa
Sep 2025 RC Auckland New Zealand 24-17 South Africa
Sep 2024 RC Cape Town South Africa 18-12 New Zealand
Aug 2024 RC Johannesburg South Africa 31-27 New Zealand
Oct 2023 RWC Paris New Zealand 11-12 South Africa
Team News
South Africa: 15 Damian Willemse, 14 Cheslin Kolbe, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Ethan Hooker, 10 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, 9 Cobus Reinach, 8 Jasper Wiese, 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit (captain), 6 Siya Kolisi, 5 Ruan Nortje, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Wilco Louw, 2 Malcolm Marx, 1 Ox Nche.
Replacements: 16 Deon Fourie, 17 Gerhard Steenekamp, 18 Thomas du Toit, 19 Lood de Jager, 20 Andre Esterhuizen, 21 Cameron Hanekom, 22 Morne van den Berg, 23 Manie Libbok.
New Zealand: 15 Damian McKenzie, 14 Will Jordan, 13 Quinn Tupaea, 12 Jordie Barrett, 11 Leroy Carter, 10 Ruben Love, 9 Cam Roigard, 8 Ardie Savea (captain), 7 Luke Jacobson, 6 Simon Parker, 5 Tupou Vaa’i, 4 Fabian Holland, 3 Tyrel Lomax, 2 Codie Taylor, 1 George Bower.
Replacements: 16 Asafo Aumua, 17 Xavier Numia, 18 Fletcher Newell, 19 Patrick Tuipoluto, 20 Peter Lakai, 21 Kyle Preston, 22 Anton Lienert-Brown, 23 Josh Moorby
The Betting
Updated 27 Aug 08h11
South Africa -6.5 points
New Zealand +7.5 points
Note, odds quoted are available at the time of writing but are subject to change.
Betting Angle - betting updates and tips posted below, newest post on top
Bet: South Africa v New Zealand
Posted 29 August 15h41
Bet: 1 unit (1–5) – Total points range 42–48 at 4/1 with World Sports Betting.
There's been no real betting movement in this game, and I'm really battling to make a firm call. So I'm going to add one more speculative play and take 4/1 that we get between 42 and 48 points.
Conditions don't look like being too bad, but I expect this to become something of an arm wrestle at some stage, and hopefully this bet will give me a run for my money, along with the two last try-scorer plays from earlier.
42–48 total points at 4/1 is the play.
Enjoy the game. It should be an absolute cracker, and I'll see you next week for the build-up to the third Test.
Bet: South Africa v New Zealand
Posted 29 August 08h53
Bet: 0.5 units (1–5) – Asafo Aumua, last New Zealand try scorer at 12/1 with Pokerbet
Bet: 0.5 units (1–5) – Thomas du Toit, last South Africa try scorer at 18/1 with Pokerbet
I'm still battling to settle on a main bet in today's big Test, so I decided to have a look at the try-scorer markets first.
Asafo Aumua made a massive difference when he came on last week for the All Blacks, and I expect him to get plenty of game time today. He's one of those players who could score from the back of a maul, but is also very dangerous on the pick and go close to the line. I'm backing him to be the last New Zealander to score a try.
In the same market for South Africa, the man who stands out to me at a decent price is Thomas du Toit. He's well known for his try-scoring exploits in the English Premiership and is very much a pick-and-go specialist. I can see this being the sort of game where, when South Africa do get into an attacking position, they pound the line relentlessly.
There has been very little change in the betting. I have seen some South Africa -8.5, but there is also still -6.5 available, while the points line varies between 51.5 and 52.5.
The latest forecast I've seen suggests we won't get rain during the game. There doesn't appear to be much rain around earlier in the day either, but I'll rely on some friends in Cape Town for a more accurate update later this afternoon.
Late Changes to Bok Team
Posted 28 August 09h29
There are two changes to the Springbok starting XV, with Cheslin Kolbe replacing Kurt-Lee Arendse on the wing and Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu coming in for Handre Pollard at flyhalf. The reshuffle at flyhalf also sees Manie Libbok come onto the bench, while the remainder of the matchday squad is unchanged.
This news is pretty fresh and, at this stage, there has been no impact on the betting.
Ref Change has little impact
Posted 27 Aug 19h08
Angus Gardener will now ref the match and while I didn't expect a big move in the markets I though points might edge up. Instead it has come into 51.5 but I think that is more to do with the possibility of showers.
Join us for a live preview tonight at 21h00 SA time on "The Handicap" - click here to watch or set a reminder
Betting Update - Points lines are out
Posted 27 Aug 08h17
The handicap remains stable at SA -6.5 or AB's +7.5 depending on your bookie,
We also have points lines now with 52.5 and 53.5 on offer. I was looking at an unders play at around the 55.5 point mark but will sit out for now.
The All Blacks name their team today and I don't expect any major betting shifts.
Note, odds quoted are available at the time of writing but are subject to change.
More rugby bets from Brent can be found in the Currie Cup Blog whilst tips from other members of our community are posted on the weekly rugby thread on our brand new discussion forum. If you haven't done so already, register a forum account here.
