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The five players who can swing the Springboks tour in the All Blacks' favour
By Ben Smith
The All Blacks confirmed their 2026 schedule, which features the first-ever Nations Championship fixtures, as well as the Great Rivalry tour of South Africa.
The calendar will see the All Blacks play the Springboks four times, a three-Test series in South Africa, followed by a fourth at a yet-to-be-named location.
After just one win from the first four Tests against South Africa under Scott Robertson, the All Blacks will need to change their fortunes in 2026 as a possible quarter-final against the Boks looms.
The good news for Robertson is that there are players who can do that for the All Blacks next year who have been largely absent from the three losses so far.
Here are five players, three who have never played South Africa, who can swing the series in the All Blacks’ favour.
Cam Roigard
Roigard is one of the few world-class players currently in the All Blacks squad. Yet since his 2023 debut, he has only played the Springboks once, with a 20-minute cameo at Twickenham.
He has been out with injury every time the All Blacks have met the Boks over the last two years. The All Blacks used TJ Perenara and Cortez Ratima against South Africa in 2024, while Finlay Christie started at Eden Park and Noah Hotham in Wellington this year. Kyle Preston backed up Christie at Eden Park while the Blues No.9 was required in Wellington to play most of the match after an early injury to Hotham.
It goes without saying that Roigard will make a massive difference when he finally does play them again.
He’s been the chief playmaker in the All Blacks backline in 2025 when healthy, adding a running game at the base that adds another dimension. His try-scoring rate is very high, with 12 in 17 Tests.
Roigard is somewhat of a secret weapon when it comes to the Springboks.
Caleb Tangitau
The Highlanders breakout winger continued his form on the All Blacks XV end-of-year tour. While the wing position is fairly stacked with the emergence of Leroy Carter in 2025, don’t count out Tangitau breaking through by 2027.
There is a history of wingers breaking into the All Blacks just before Rugby World Cups. In 2015, Waisake Naholo made the squad after just one Test against Argentina. That year also saw Nehe Milner-Skudder become a revelation on the right wing, taking two caps before heading to England.
In 2019, at the 11th hour, Crusaders pair George Bridge and Sevu Reece took over the starting roles. More recently, Mark Tele’a broke into the All Blacks in late 2022 and went to the 2023 Rugby World Cup with a handful of caps.
The South Africa tour would be the perfect time for Tangitau to explode on the international scene. If he bagged a handful of tries in a series win, he would replicate the career arc of Tele’a.
Samisoni Taukei’aho
When healthy, the Chiefs hooker provides a dominant ball-carrying force and reliable lineout throw to anchor the set-piece. His absence was severely felt in 2025 in the second South Africa Test, with the lineout capitulating in the final quarter.
A Taylor-Taukei’aho one-two punch at hooker tends to provide the All Blacks with a stable lineout for 80 minutes.
Taukei’aho provides the power to counter the South African pack; his tour in 2022 was proof of that. Against the Springboks that year, Taukei’aho made a handful of pressure throws and had a high lineout completion in Mbombela in one of his first Test starts.
Again at Ellis Park the next week, the set-piece fired at both scrum and lineout time, while Taukei’aho bulldozed Boks with ball in hand. He bagged a try in the 35-23 win.
The 28-year-old is a key piece of the puzzle for a successful 2026 tour.
Peter Lakai
The Hurricanes’ No.8 has yet to play South Africa in his short international career, but his run of starts to finish the year has established him. The 22-year-old now has eight caps to his name.
A rare opportunity to play against a full-strength France in Paris last year showed Lakai’s potential. He didn’t feature in 2025 until the All Blacks played the Wallabies at Eden Park, and he immediately demonstrated an impact.
He can cover openside and No.8, but is well suited to the ball-carrying role after being one of Super Rugby’s highest volume ball carriers for years with the Hurricanes. As part of a power-back row with Wallace Sititi and Ardie Savea, the All Blacks will have the force to handle the South Africans.
At just 22 years old, Lakai’s ceiling is much higher, and the 2026 tour to South Africa could be the making of him as an international star.
Leicester Fainga’anuku
A young All Black in terms of caps, Fainga’anuku has already played on the biggest stage at the 2023 Rugby World Cup, starting against Ireland in the quarter-final win.
His first-half try was key to a fast start, and he helped avenge the 2022 series loss, a series which saw him dropped from the All Blacks after one start.
That meant he missed the 2022 Rugby Championship, while in 2023 his game time was limited with a lone appearance in the Bledisloe Cup Test before heading to France.
After his big quarter-final, he wasn’t used, missing the semi-final against Argentina and the final against the Springboks.
As it stands, the 12-cap midfield-wing has never played South Africa.
Returning from his stint in Toulon, Fainga’anuku is a reformed player with midfield capability. This is where he may help the All Blacks turn the tide, providing strong carries from 12 to combat the Springbok defence.
At 27 years old, Fainga’anuku is well placed to play a huge role on the 2026 tour.
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