All Blacks beat Springboks 33-16 as Will Jordan double lights up Ellis Park

The All Blacks beat South Africa 33-16 at Ellis Park on Saturday to take a 1-0 lead in their four-Test series. Sky Sports' match report recorded five New Zealand tries to one, with Will Jordan scoring twice alongside Josh Moorby, Fabian Holland and Luke Jacobson. The Springboks led 13-12 at half-time, but New Zealand controlled the decisive stages after the break. The fixture was not part of the Rugby Championship: Sky notes that there is no Rugby Championship in 2026, with the countries instead playing the Rugby's Greatest Rivalry series.

At a glance

• Sky Sports: New Zealand beat South Africa 33-16 at Ellis Park on 22 August 2026.
• Sky Sports: The All Blacks scored five tries to South Africa's one and overturned a 13-12 half-time deficit.
• Sky Sports: Will Jordan scored twice, with Josh Moorby, Fabian Holland and Luke Jacobson also crossing.
• Sky Sports: The win ended South Africa's 12-match winning streak and put New Zealand 1-0 up in the four-Test series.
• Sky Sports: There is no Rugby Championship in 2026; the match was the opening Test of the Rugby's Greatest Rivalry series.

New Zealand seize the second half

The scoreline was built on a sharp change in control rather than an early runaway lead. South Africa had the narrow advantage at the interval, but their handling errors and ill discipline gave New Zealand repeated invitations. The All Blacks converted those opportunities into territory and points, then kept the home side chasing the match. Sky Sports described a second half in which the tourists pulled away decisively. At altitude and in front of an Ellis Park crowd, that composure was as significant as the final 17-point margin.

Jordan keeps moving the record

Jordan's double added another line to a scoring record he already owns. His value is not simply the finishing total: he repeatedly turns broken play, short defensive mismatches and half-chances into tries. In a contest expected to be shaped by physical confrontation, his two scores gave New Zealand a different route to pressure. The first and last of the All Blacks' tries belonged to Jordan, neatly framing a performance in which the tourists' wider attacking threats forced South Africa to defend more space than they wanted.

Ellis Park shifts the psychology of the tour

New Zealand's previous Ellis Park win came in 2022, when they recovered late to beat the Springboks 35-23. Returning to the same ground and winning again matters in a four-Test series because Johannesburg was supposed to be one of South Africa's strongest leverage points. This result does not decide the tour, but it removes any assumption that home altitude and recent form will carry the Springboks. It also gives the All Blacks proof that their game can survive pressure in the most hostile venue of the series.

South Africa paid for the small errors

Andre Esterhuizen scored South Africa's only try, while Cheslin Kolbe supplied the rest of their points from the tee. The bigger problem was what happened between scoring opportunities. Dropped ball, penalties and disrupted continuity prevented the hosts from building the repeated close-range pressure on which they normally thrive. New Zealand did not need to dominate every collision; they needed to make South Africa restart too often. In a rivalry where margins are usually narrow, that accumulation of errors was unusually expensive.

What happens next

The series now moves to its second Test with South Africa needing an immediate response and New Zealand carrying the confidence of a statement away win. Selection changes and the Springboks' handling of discipline will be central, while the All Blacks will have to show that their Ellis Park efficiency can be repeated rather than treated as a one-off surge.