Rugby's Greatest Rivalry series unveils split-design trophy for Springboks and All Blacks

The trophy and its split design

Rugby's Greatest Rivalry, the revived four-Test tour between the Springboks and the All Blacks, unveiled a trophy on 19 August 2026 in Johannesburg built as two separate pieces held together by hidden magnets. According to SA Rugby, the design concept reflects two proud rugby cultures that are fiercely independent yet inseparably linked, with the winners of the tour taking both halves home and each nation keeping one half if the series ends drawn.

Designers, materials and build

The trophy was shaped like a blade of grass to symbolise the experience shared by every player who has played in the rivalry, with one blade representing South Africa and the other New Zealand. Its base carries the theme of two halves forming a greater whole, combining black Pakohe stone from Aotearoa New Zealand and green Verdite from South Africa. Strategy Creative of New Zealand developed the piece alongside both unions; SA Rugby lists the finished trophy at 65 cm tall, with each blade weighing 7 kg and the base weighing 9.5 kg, and the project took about one year from brief to build.

The split-trophy rule

Because this is the eighth time in 12 tours that the four-Test format has been used, SA Rugby CEO Rian Oberholzer said the brief to the design agencies explicitly anticipated a 2–2 outcome and wanted to avoid deciding a winner on an arbitrary metric. He noted that the first two tours between the two nations, in 1921 and 1928, were also drawn, making a shared outcome a realistic scenario. If the series finishes 2–2 after 320 minutes of Test rugby, each union will retain one half of the trophy; the winning side will take both halves after the final Test.

Unveiling and presentation partners

Former captains Gary Teichmann of the Springboks and Sean Fitzpatrick of the All Blacks, who led the sides in the 1996 series, brought the two halves together publicly for the first time at the Johannesburg unveiling. The tour and trophy are presented by Castle Double Malt, which backed the return of the traditional multi-Test tour format. The trophy will be seen by the general public for the first time when the series opens at Ellis Park in Johannesburg, with kick-off scheduled for 17:10 on Saturday.

What remains on the horizon

The first Test is scheduled for Saturday at Ellis Park in Johannesburg, with team announcements expected on Thursday. The four-Test series comprises three matches in South Africa before both teams travel to the United States for the fourth and final Test in Baltimore on 12 September 2026, the match that will determine which side takes home both halves of the trophy.

Other developments

Separately, The South African and eNCA published photo galleries from the Johannesburg unveiling, documenting Teichmann and Fitzpatrick joining the two halves on stage.