All Blacks begin historic old-school tour of SA, and local rugby fans are in for a feast

South Africa revives the iconic old-school rugby tour this week as the All Blacks take on local franchises before a epic four-Test series against the Springboks. Picture: Henk Kruger / ANA Studio

The return of the traditional rugby tour of South Africa by the New Zealand All Blacks may just be the elixir local rugby fans didn’t know they needed.

The tour kicks off on Friday when the All Blacks take on the Stormers in Cape Town, launching a flurry of mid-week and weekend fixtures against South Africa's top franchises. The ABs will then face the Sharks in Durban on August 11 and the Bulls in Pretoria on August 15, before heading to Ellis Park to take on the Lions after a 10-day breather.

These mid-week franchise clashes will serve as the perfect warm-up for a mammoth four-Test series between the Springboks and All Blacks played over consecutive weeks.

The first three Tests will take place on South African soil—Johannesburg on August 22, Cape Town on August 29, and Johannesburg again on September 5—before both powerhouse nations fly to Baltimore in the United States for a grand finale on September 12.