Rassie: Greatest Rivalry revival about more than winning
SPOTLIGHT: Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus shared his thoughts on the revival of the Greatest Rivalry series against the All Blacks after 30 years.
South Africa clinched the RGR series 3-1 on Saturday on neutral ground in Baltimore following a defeat and two victories on South African soil.
Despite making his Test debut in 1997, Erasmus would’ve had vivid memories of New Zealand’s 1996 series victory in South Africa.
The New Zealand team of that era was dubbed “the incomparables” following the 2-1 series win, and featured legends of the game such as Zinzan Brooke, Scott McLeod, Andrew Mehrtens, Christian Cullen, Justin Marshall, Walter Little, Carlos Spencer, Jonah Lomu and captain Sean Fitzpatrick amongst several others.
For those 1996 Springboks who lost that series, the 2026 Greatest Rivalry win would’ve eased some pain they carried for a long time, but this series showed once again why there’s nothing like a Test match between South Africa and New Zealand.
*Also read: ‘It’s all about the scoreboard’: Rassie downplays Boks’ superiority over All Blacks
Erasmus spoke about his memories as a young fan during the isolation years and what this series meant to the Boks.
“Firstly, when the [series concept] chat started, growing up in the era where there wasn’t [much international] rugby, and we used to watch New Zealand and the Cavaliers tour and the flour bomb Tests.
“So for me, you know, my heroes, as I said many times, were Murray Mexted and those kind of guys.
“And when this [tour] came up on the radar, we supported it as a coaching team; we said, ‘yeah, for sure’.
“I mean, I’d hate it if Argentina and Australia get left behind somewhere because we don’t want that.
“They’ve always been good to us as well. But I mean, not because we won the thing; from the first Test match, every week was filled with adrenaline.
“It was competitive, off the field, and both media sides, you know, sort of backed their team and that’s great.”
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Erasmus elaborated on the positives this series brought, especially the respect and camaraderie between these teams that makes this rivalry so unique and special.
“I think it’s great for the game, even if we lost today. I haven’t been part of a series because the [2021 British and Irish Lions] series we played was during COVID, and nothing was happening.
“But yes, this was happening. New Zealand was getting into communities in South Africa.
“South African and New Zealand supporters got to see their heroes, the New Zealanders in the flesh.
“And then they produced. We are proud to be part of this. Not necessarily the win.
“One day we’ll say we played in 2026 again, in that first tour when the Greatest Rivalry started again.
“So, it’s a massive privilege, massive respect for both sides. And yeah, I like it.”
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