Ellis Park Johannesburg is the venue for the first of four test matches between South Africa and New Zealand in the Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry tour. The game takes place on Saturday and the Boks will start as the bookmakers favourites
South Africa vs New Zealand, Johannesburg, Kick Off 16:10, Saturday 22nd August
Referee: Matthew Carley (RFU)
Assistant Referees: Karl Dickson (RFU), Nika Amashukeli (GRU)
TMO: Mike Adamson (SRU)
Weather Forecast - Johannesburg
South Africa:
South Africa tuned up for this tour with a one off clash with Argentina in Buenos Aires on 8th August and they came out on top 17-10. The Boks scored 2 tries to Argentina’s 1 and held out for the win after late pressure from Los Pumas but it was pretty hard work.
All available guns are now trained on the All Blacks with this test followed by games in Cape Town, Soweto and finally Baltimore in the USA. In terms of the series betting Hollywoodbets have South Africa at 7/20, a tie at 33/10 and New Zealand are 15/2. South Africa to win the series 3-1 is 17/10 and a 4-0 clean sweep for the Boks is 19/10.
The Springboks home fixtures in the first 3 rounds of the Nations Championship pretty much went to plan with bonus point wins over England (45-21), Scotland (42-28) and then Wales (43-0). The All Blacks also have the maximum 15 log points but the Boks have a better points difference.
New Zealand:
New Zealand’s final prep for the first test came against the Bulls at Loftus on Saturday and they came out on top 50-19. They led 24-0 at half time but there was a bit more about the Bulls after the break. The All Blacks still ran in a total of 8 tries and the bookmakers main handicap line of 31.5 points was very accurate.
The All Blacks second tour match saw them thrash the Sharks 54-0 in Durban (half time 14-0). Despite wet condition they ran in 8 tries they easily covered the main pre-match handicap line which had been supported into -38.5 points.
The All Blacks were around -33.5 points on the bookmakers main handicap line for their opening match of the tour against the Stomers in Cape Town. However it was only late on that they put the game to bed with 4 of their 6 tries coming from the 66th minute onwards in a 38-21 victory.
Injury has seen Billy Proctor, Caleb Clarke, George Bell and now Ollie Norris ruled out of this tour before the first test
In the Nations Championship New Zealand are second in the Southern Hemisphere behind the Springboks on points difference. They won all 3 of their recent home matches with a bonus point, starting by edging out France 34-32 in Christchurch in what was Dave Rennie’s first game in charge. In Round 2 in Wellington New Zealand put Italy away 47–17 whilst arguably their most convincing display came in Round 3 at Eden Park where they beat Ireland 40–21.
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 v New Zealand (Ellis Park, Johannesburg)
Tuesday 25th August, Lions v 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
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: (expected to be announced on Thursday)
New Zealand: tbc
The Betting
Updated 18 August 23h16
South Africa -7.5 points at 9/10
New Zealand +7.5 points at 9/10
Note, odds quoted are available at the time of writing but are subject to change.
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Betting Angle - betting updates and tips will be posted below with the newest post on top Points lines are outPosted 19 Aug 12h50 The points line has come out at 58.5 a few points higher than I had hoped - the lads in the forum were hoping for lower There is still -6.5 on offer but the line has gone -7.5 in places As you were!Posted 18 August 23h24 After some money for the All Blacks the line is stable at SA -6.5. I have been keeping an eye on whatsapp groups and predict the line will go out to -7.5 over the next couple of days.
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Note, odds quoted are available at the time of writing but are subject to change.
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