Several factors contributed to the decision to take the fourth Test of Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry to the USA, writes MIKE GREENAWAY in SA Rugby magazine.
The Springboks and All Blacks have played each other in some curious situations over the past 125 years, but among the quirkiest will be the fourth Test of the Greatest Rivalry series in Baltimore, USA.
On the night of 5 September, the players will barely have finished showering after the third Test of the series, at FNB Stadium in Johannesburg, before boarding a chartered flight to the USA, for the concluding match a week later.
Oh, to be a fly on the wall of the shared cabin as the protagonists – in what we can bet were three fiercely fought battles – shift the war to the M&T Bank Stadium, home of the top NFL team, the Baltimore Ravens.
Rugby fans from Christchurch to Cape Town are asking, why?
The answer is largely strategic and political, but mostly financial, as the US dollar event will provide a big bucks boost for both New Zealand and South Africa ahead of a quiet revenue year in 2027.
The political motivation for the Battle of Baltimore is the latest episode in World Rugby’s eternal struggle to awaken the sleeping giant the governing body believes American rugby to be.
Spreading the rugby gospel to new territories is a core ambition of World Rugby, and it has been banging on the door of the New World just about since Christopher Columbus, yet the 150-year-old game in the States threatens to explode, but never does.
Rugby has been played in the States for the same period as it has in South Africa and New Zealand (since the 1860s), but the seed planted by British visitors in those countries barely germinated in the States, but flourished spectacularly in the latter two.
World Rugby four years ago (in May 2022) bravely awarded the men’s 2031 World Cup and the women’s 2033 event to the USA, and the anxiety that they may have flops on their hands is settling in.
Hence, World Rugby encourages tier-one nations to play games in the States to try to grow interest in the sport.
New Zealand and Ireland have played a series of matches in Chicago – a rugby stronghold – in recent years, while the Springboks played Wales in Washington DC in 2018, and England last year played the USA Eagles.
“Bringing world-class rugby to key US cities is at the heart of the strategy to grow the market ahead of the World Cups in the US,” confirms Alan Gilpin, chief executive of World Rugby.
“There are few bigger rivalries than New Zealand vs South Africa, and to be able to showcase the best of our sport in Baltimore is about inspiring more sports fans in the US to fall in love with rugby.”
Marco Masotti, the New York-based owner of the Sharks, reckons the choice of Baltimore suggests the city ranks high in World Rugby’s host selection process for the 2031 World Cup – 27 cities have applied to host games in 2031.
“Baltimore is roughly halfway between Washington and New York on the East Coast and close to both, which makes it a much nearer destination for European fans than the West Coast cities [New York to Los Angeles, for example, is another six-hour flight],’ Masotti says. ‘For South Africans in London, New York is a seven-hour flight away. Also, South Africans can fly direct from Johannesburg to Washington [about 18 hours].”
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Masotti says that the NFL season kicks off at the beginning of September, and the Ravens not having a home fixture on 12 September must have influenced the decision to grant Baltimore the fixture.
Another appeal of the M&T Bank Stadium is that it is one of the few NFL stadiums that has a turf surface – undoubtedly the All Blacks and Springbok players would want to avoid the controversial synthetic pitches.
Rian Oberholzer, chief executive of SA Rugby, said they had been approached by a promoter regarding moving the game to the USA.
“It made some sense because as part of World Rugby, we agreed on the expansion of the sport into America,” he says.
“It came at the right time for us to take a game to America. Nike, as our sponsor, sees it as important that we establish the brand there. The Springboks are the only [rugby] team sponsored by Nike, so we must work on that relationship. Coca-Cola, as an international sponsor, is also keen for us to make inroads in the States.”
Oberholzer says the match is key to growing support for the Springboks ahead of the World Cup there.
“There is a growing South African expat community in America [estimated to be around 180,000 people] who would like to see the Boks play. But we want to establish ourselves as a team that is known to the majority of Americans who will support rugby.”
Springbok manager Charles Wessels visited Baltimore in April and is satisfied with the venue.
“We have been on a recce, and the facilities are great,” he said. “The minimum and maximum temperatures in September will be 16°C and 27°C. The 71,000-seater stadium is high-tech, and there are good training facilities at the University of Maryland.”
A situation beyond the control of New Zealand and South Africa is the geopolitics of Washington. Both countries would have been eager to see how the football World Cup in the US unfolded.
Oberholzer says they take their cue from World Rugby.
“We are comfortable that we have taken the necessary precautions. We’re trusting World Rugby. They’ve thought long and hard about asking us to bring the game there and supporting us, looking into the consequences. We are confident that there will be no issue.”
While helping out World Rugby and its ambition to encourage rugby in North America, Oberholzer admits that the financial reward is important. The Baltimore match takes place a year out from the World Cup in Australia, and history tells SA Rugby that the World Cup years are disastrous for the coffers.
“This game was always about finding an option where we could make as much financial gain as we could,” Oberholzer said. “At SA Rugby, it is essential that we keep working on our financial stability. To do that, we have to take our brand wider than South Africa. We know the support we have in London, but the USA is an important market for us to grow into as we build towards 2031.
“We understand the challenges all of us will have in the World Cup year of 2027,” Oberholzer continues. “We only have three international fixtures in South Africa, which affects sponsorship and affects broadcast rights. We have to make as much money as we can out of this 2026 season and this series so that we and New Zealand can have a bit of a buffer going into 2027.”
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Oberholzer dismissed the fear among supporters from New Zealand and South Africa that moving the fourth Test to a neutral ground in a non-rugby country would make it an anti-climax.
“I don’t foresee it will be seen as a festival match when the two play in Baltimore. I don’t think there will ever be a match between the Springboks and the All Blacks that will not be high intensity and a must-win. Anyone who knows the history between these teams understands that it can only be that way.”
– This article first appeared in the August 2026 issue of SA Rugby magazine. The September 2026 issue is also available to read for FREE.
Photo: Mitchell Layton/Getty Images
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