The 1996 New Zealand rugby union tour of South Africa was a historic tour in the history of New Zealand rugby. The

All Blacks The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks ( mi, Ōpango), represents New Zealand in men's international rugby union, which is considered the country's national sport. The team won the Rugby World Cup in 1987, ...

won the test series 2–1 and became known as "the Incomparables" for their feat of winning a series in South Africa for the first time.

The Rivalry

The Springboks and the All Blacks have been typically regarded by many as the two greatest rugby playing nations of all time. New Zealand and South Africa had clashed in many tours over time which had been hotly contested. This included the controversial 1981 tour. The All Blacks had never beaten South Africa in a full-scale test series in South Africa. This was seen as the only blemish on the All Blacks record. All Black sides of

1928 Events January * January – British bacteriologist Frederick Griffith reports the results of Griffith's experiment, indirectly proving the existence of DNA. * January 1 – Eastern Bloc emigration and defection: Boris Bazhan ...

, 1949, 1960, 1970 and 1976 had all failed to beat South Africa away from home. The

rivalry A rivalry is the state of two people or groups engaging in a lasting competitive relationship. Rivalry is the "against each other" spirit between two competing sides. The relationship itself may also be called "a rivalry", and each participant ...

has always been hotly contested. 1996 was the year professionalism was introduced into rugby union meaning the creation of the new Tri nations and Super 12. As of 2021 no further full-scale tours have occurred between New Zealand and South Africa. More recently the All Blacks had clashed with South Africa in the

1995 Rugby World Cup Final The 1995 Rugby World Cup Final was the final match of the 1995 Rugby World Cup, played in South Africa. The match was played at Ellis Park Stadium, Johannesburg on 24 June 1995 between the host nation, South Africa, and New Zealand. South Afri ...

. The All Blacks lost that match but coming into this tour they had won the

1996 Tri Nations Series The 1996 Tri Nations Series was the inaugural edition of the rugby union series test matches that determined the Tri Nations Series Champion amongst Australia, New Zealand and South Africa national rugby union teams. It was contested from 6 Jul ...

in the process beating South Africa twice.

The Tour

The All Blacks and South Africa played four test matches; the first was the final match of the

. The next three was for the test series which the All Blacks won 2–1.

1st Test

2nd Test

3rd Test

Matches

:''Scores and results list New Zealand's points tally first.''

The squad

1. S.D. Culhane 2. J.P. Preston 3. M.J. A. Cooper 4. J.W. Wilson 5. Z.V. Brooke 6. S.J. McLeod 7. O.F. J. Tonu'u 8. A.P. Mehrtens 9. A.F. Blowers 10. C.M. Cullen 11. S.B. T. Fitzpatrick 12. A. Ieremia 13. B.P. Larsen 14. W.K. Little 15. J.T. Lomu 16. J.W. Marshall 17. G.M. Osborne 18. E.J. Rush 19. C.J. Spencer 20. M.R. Allen 21. C.K. Barrell 22. T.J. Blackadder 23. R.M. Brooke 24. O.M. Brown 25. F.E. Bunce 26. P.H. Coffin 27. C.S. Davis 28. C.W. Dowd 29. N.J. Hewitt 30. I.D. Jones 31. M.N. Jones 32. J.A. Kronfeld 33. J.T. F. Matson 34. A.D. Oliver 35. T.C. Randell 36. G.L. Taylor

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1996 New Zealand Rugby Union Tour Of South Africa

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

New Zealand national rugby union team tours of South Africa

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...