All Blacks vs Springboks match report — second Test, DHL Stadium, Cape Town, Saturday 29 August 2026.
New Zealand scored four tries in Cape Town and never once led.
South Africa beat New Zealand 33-26 at DHL Stadium on Saturday 29 August 2026, scoring three tries to four and levelling Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry at 1-1.
So how does a side make nine visits to the opposition 22, against four, and lose by seven?
Two of the answers sit on the scoreboard. The third was settled by a weather app, five minutes before kick-off.
TL;DR
- South Africa 33-26 New Zealand at DHL Stadium. The four-Test series is level at 1-1 with two to play.
- Cheslin Kolbe kicked seven from seven — three conversions, four penalties, 18 of South Africa’s 33 points.
- New Zealand out-scored South Africa on tries, out-entered them in the 22 by nine to four, and led for none of the 80 minutes.
The Test was one minute old when the scoreboard settled
South Africa won a lineout inside the opening exchanges, mauled off it, and Jesse Kriel went over. Kolbe converted before the clock reached two minutes.
That was 7-0, and it was the last time the game was close to level on the run of play rather than on the board. South Africa led for 79 of the 80 minutes. New Zealand, who had won the opener 33-16 at Ellis Park seven days earlier, spent the entire evening playing catch-up rugby against the best defensive side in the world.
READ ALSO: Kolbe was not supposed to be anywhere near this Test
Dave Rennie was asked about another sluggish start afterwards and gave the only joke of a bruised night.
“We might get him to win a toss so we can kick off.”
— Dave Rennie, All Blacks head coach, post-match press conference in Cape Town, 29 August 2026
It got a laugh because everyone in the room had watched the same first minute. It also named the problem in eleven words.
Kolbe kicked seven times and missed none of them
Three conversions. Four penalties, on 18, 48, 50 and 71 minutes. Seven kicks, seven successes, and 18 of his side’s 33 points off the tee.
The penalties matter more than the total. Twelve points arrived without South Africa building a single second-half attack, because Kolbe’s range turns any New Zealand infringement inside their own half into three on the board.
Ruben Love, by contrast, went three from four. His miss was the touchline conversion after Leroy Carter’s try on 65 — a hard kick, and not the reason New Zealand lost. Kolbe’s four penalties were worth more than the final margin on their own.
Nine entries, four tries, and the sum Rennie did out loud
New Zealand won 111 rucks to 77 and generated ball inside three seconds at 61 per cent, against South Africa’s 55. One in five South African rucks took six seconds or longer. New Zealand’s figure was one in 33.
They had nine entries to four into the opposition 22. In the last ten minutes they held 95 per cent of the possession and scored seven points with it.
Rennie did not need the stat sheet read back to him. Against the world champions, he said, you have to be clinical more often than that.
“We left two or three out there, which in the end is the difference.”
— Dave Rennie, post-match press conference, Cape Town
Two or three tries left on the field, in a Test lost by seven. That arithmetic will follow this squad to Johannesburg.
The five minutes that put it out of reach
Not the finish. The first ten minutes after the break.
New Zealand emptied their front row chasing the game — Asafo Aumua and Fletcher Newell on at 48 minutes, Peter Lakai at 51. Inside those same minutes South Africa won two penalties and Kolbe kicked both.
Ten became sixteen. Everything New Zealand did from that moment was planned against a deficit they had not budgeted for, by a pack that had just been reshuffled to chase a smaller one.
Twelve unanswered points came back at them from the 65th minute. Seven short.
The front row nobody saw coming was picked off a forecast
Five minutes before kick-off, Rassie Erasmus changed his entire front row. Gerhard Steenekamp, Deon Fourie and Thomas du Toit started. Ox Nché, Malcolm Marx and Wilco Louw — the three named on Friday — went to the bench.
Fourie started at hooker aged 39, becoming the oldest Springbok in history, in his first Test since the 2023 World Cup final. That was also against New Zealand. He lasted 35 minutes, and the lead was ten by the time he walked.
Every read of it as a mind game was wrong.
“We thought it’s going to be wet, and that’s why we picked the front row.”
— Rassie Erasmus, Springboks head coach, post-match press conference, Cape Town
Closer to kick-off the forecast turned dry. Erasmus wanted the lighter front row on a firm field, and said he had always intended to use two of them.
The switch landed in a week when New Zealand had taken the complaint to World Rugby and said so out loud about the Springboks scrum, and Erasmus answered that at length in the same room. Rennie, having praised Angus Gardner for setting a square mark, still said his tightheads were being walked around. Nothing about what a legal scrum is actually allowed to do was settled by 80 minutes of evidence, which is why it goes to Johannesburg too.
How the points went on
| Min | Scorer | Type | Score (SA–NZ) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1′ | Jesse Kriel | Try | 5-0 |
| 2′ | Cheslin Kolbe | Con | 7-0 |
| 15′ | Cam Roigard | Try | 7-5 |
| 16′ | Ruben Love | Con | 7-7 |
| 18′ | Cheslin Kolbe | Pen | 10-7 |
| 21′ | Damian de Allende | Try | 15-7 |
| 22′ | Cheslin Kolbe | Con | 17-7 |
| 29′ | Damian McKenzie | Try | 17-12 |
| 30′ | Ruben Love | Con | 17-14 |
| 37′ | Siya Kolisi | Try | 22-14 |
| 38′ | Cheslin Kolbe | Con | 24-14 HT |
| 48′ | Cheslin Kolbe | Pen | 27-14 |
| 50′ | Cheslin Kolbe | Pen | 30-14 |
| 65′ | Leroy Carter | Try (con missed) | 30-19 |
| 71′ | Cheslin Kolbe | Pen | 33-19 |
| 76′ | Ardie Savea | Try | 33-24 |
| 77′ | Ruben Love | Con | 33-26 |
| 79′ | Lood de Jager | Yellow card | 33-26 |
Venue: DHL Stadium, Cape Town. Referee: Angus Gardner (Australia). Cards: one yellow, Lood de Jager, 79 minutes, head contact on Carter. Milestones: Pieter-Steph du Toit’s 100th Test, Ox Nché’s 50th.
The case for South Africa, which nobody in New Zealand wants to hear
Territory describes pressure. It does not describe points.
South Africa entered the New Zealand 22 four times and came away with three tries. New Zealand entered theirs nine times and came away with four.
One of those is a conversion rate that wins Tests. The other is a highlights reel, and Rennie said as much himself — the Springboks were clinical in the finish zone.
Efficiency is a skill, not luck, and South Africa have built a decade of results on doing less with the ball and more with the moments. “We were the better side” is also what every beaten team says on the way to the airport.
What Johannesburg has to settle
Test three is at FNB Stadium on Saturday 5 September. Test four is in Baltimore on 12 September.
Altitude is supposed to be the Springboks’ insurance. It was not much use to them a week ago, when they lost by 17 on the same Highveld. New Zealand carry a different weight: Rennie’s first defeat as All Blacks coach, and a performance good enough that there is very little in the review to change.
One draw in Baltimore settles it for whoever takes Johannesburg. Both camps know that. Neither will say it yet.
All Blacks vs Springboks match report: your questions answered
What was the final score in the All Blacks vs Springboks second Test?
South Africa beat New Zealand 33-26 at DHL Stadium in Cape Town on Saturday 29 August 2026. Half-time was 24-14 to the Springboks. The result levels the four-Test Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry series at 1-1, after New Zealand won the opener 33-16 at Ellis Park.
Who scored the tries in Cape Town?
South Africa scored three: Jesse Kriel on one minute, Damian de Allende on 21 and captain Siya Kolisi on 37. New Zealand scored four: Cam Roigard on 15, Damian McKenzie on 29, Leroy Carter on 65 and captain Ardie Savea on 76 minutes.
How did New Zealand lose after scoring more tries?
Cheslin Kolbe kicked seven from seven for 18 points, including four penalties worth 12. New Zealand kicked no penalties at all and missed one conversion. South Africa also defended their own 22 far better, conceding four tries from nine entries.
Was anyone sent off in the second Test?
No red cards. Lood de Jager was the only player carded, a yellow on 79 minutes for head-on-head contact on Leroy Carter. South Africa played the final minute a man down and New Zealand could not convert the overlap before the full-time knock-on.
When is the third Test between South Africa and New Zealand?
The third Test is at FNB Stadium in Johannesburg on Saturday 5 September 2026, followed by a fourth Test in Baltimore on 12 September. The series is level at 1-1, so the winner in Johannesburg needs only a draw in the United States.
The teams
South Africa: 1 Gerhard Steenekamp, 2 Deon Fourie, 3 Thomas du Toit, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 5 Ruan Nortjé, 6 Siya Kolisi (captain), 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 8 Jasper Wiese, 9 Cobus Reinach, 10 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, 11 Ethan Hooker, 12 Damian de Allende, 13 Jesse Kriel, 14 Cheslin Kolbe, 15 Damian Willemse.
Replacements (all used): Malcolm Marx, Ox Nché, Wilco Louw, Lood de Jager, André Esterhuizen, Cameron Hanekom, Morné van den Berg, Manie Libbok.
New Zealand: 1 George Bower, 2 Codie Taylor, 3 Tyrel Lomax, 4 Fabian Holland, 5 Tupou Vaa’i, 6 Simon Parker, 7 Luke Jacobson, 8 Ardie Savea (captain), 9 Cam Roigard, 10 Ruben Love, 11 Leroy Carter, 12 Jordie Barrett, 13 Quinn Tupaea, 14 Will Jordan, 15 Damian McKenzie.
Replacements: Asafo Aumua, Xavier Numia, Fletcher Newell, Patrick Tuipulotu, Peter Lakai, Kyle Preston, Anton Lienert-Brown. Josh Moorby unused.
Quotes are from the All Blacks post-match press conference and the Springboks post-match press conference, both in Cape Town on 29 August 2026.
Read next
- Springboks player ratings — a scrum-half who went off on 56 is marked above the entire pack
- All Blacks player ratings — the lowest-rated starting back kicked three from four, and the reasoning is arithmetic
- The blueprint for beating this South Africa side — it says make them kick, so what was missing when New Zealand had the ball?
Rennie will not change much for Johannesburg, and that is the uncomfortable part. So which is it: did South Africa win this Test, or did New Zealand refuse to take it? Make the case in the comments — with a minute number attached.
