GREEN AND GOLD STANDARD: Springboks’ 2026 season is already a massive success — so what’s next?

{JSON.stringify(article.attachments[0], null, 2)} --> The Springboks have beaten the All Blacks in a landmark series and anything they win between now and the start of the 2027 World Cup should be viewed as a bonus.

South Africa continues to bask in the afterglow of the Springboks’ 3-1 series victory against the All Blacks – and rightly so.

The Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry (RGR) Tests were every bit as intense and compelling as the marquee matches of a World Cup or British & Irish Lions tour, and as is the case in those showpiece events, the final result will echo into eternity.

What the Boks achieved in the inaugural series may take decades to fully appreciate. In time, we may view Malcolm Marx’s timely breakdown interventions, the relentless maul that broke the back of the All Blacks’ resistance in the third Test and Kurt-Lee Arendse’s try from the end of the Earth in an entirely new light.

Consider how much the Bok side will change ahead of the next RGR series in 2030.

Rassie Erasmus will remain at the helm until 2031, but decorated veterans such as Siya Kolisi, Eben Etzebeth and others currently in their mid-to-late thirties will move on after the 2027 World Cup.

The next series will be a lot tougher to win in New Zealand, and by the time the tour returns to South Africa in 2034, the Bok team will have changed completely, with Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu and Ethan Hooker potentially among a handful of survivors from 2026.

The point is that the quadrennial series between rugby’s leading nations matters a great deal, and future generations may reflect on the 2026 fixtures much like we reflect on Morné Steyn’s winning penalty against the Lions in 2009 or Joel Stransky’s iconic drop goal in 1995.

Kolisi’s Boks had a shot at history this season and made it count – and the group has every right to feel it’s a case of job done.

While the Boks are building towards the 2027 World Cup, it’s safe to say that they have already realised their primary objective for the 2026 Test season.

Earlier this year, Erasmus spelled out the team’s priorities in no uncertain terms.

The Greatest Rivalry series was the Boks’ most pressing assignment while the 2027 World Cup – and the quest for a third consecutive title – was their long-term goal.

The inaugural Nations Championship, said Erasmus, was simply not as important.

It’s worth revisiting those comments now, following the Boks’ series victory against the All Blacks.