What happened the last time the Springbok Women played the Black Ferns?

When the Springbok Women and Black Ferns meet in Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry this Saturday it will have been 357 days since their last meeting.

This weekend the teams will meet at FNB Stadium in Soweto. Their time shared on the field of South Africa’s largest stadium will be the warm-up act to the Springboks and All Blacks‘ third Test.

As things stand, the Test series between the two teams are finely poised. Last weekend, Rassie Erasmus’ side levelled things at one game apiece with a resurgent performance at DHL Stadium in Cape Town.

Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry marks just shy of 90 years since the two men’s teams first met. In contrast there have only been two meetings between the Springbok Women and Black Ferns. A history that spans just 16 years.

The last of those encounters was a Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025 quarter-final at Exeter’s Sandy Park. At full-time, the scoreboard read 46-17 in favour of New Zealand. Although that hardly tells the full story.

As late-summer sunlight drenched Devon, the opening 40 minutes saw the two teams go into half-time level at 10 points apiece. There was a nervousness in the South West as the six-time champions found themselves uncertain of how to deal with 15-woman lineout mauls and the Springboks’ directness.

Tighthead prop Veisinia Mahutariki-Fakalelu made 21 tackles in 28 minutes. This week, Black Ferns playmaker Ruahei Demant said that everything South Africa threw at them was “completely unexpected”.

South Africa took the lead with a well-earned Babalwa Latsha try 20 minutes in. New Zealand did respond with efforts from Theresa Setefano and Braxton Sorensen-McGee, only for Aphiwe Ngwevu to level things up ahead of Sara Cox’s half-time whistle.

In the second 40 minutes, black jerseys swarmed South Africa and the defending Women’s Rugby World Cup champions scored six tries. In response the Springboks dotted down just once.

While the fixture ended in defeat, it showed the immense possibilities at hand for the Springboks. Their forward power challenged the Black Ferns, who were undone a week later by Canada at Ashton Gate Stadium in the semi-final.

It was also a stark contrast to their previous meeting 15 years earlier at the previous Women’s Rugby World Cup, hosted in England. That afternoon, Carla Hohepa scored a hat-trick as the Black Ferns ran out 55-3 winners on the grounds of the University of Surrey in Guildford.

While it will be the first time that the Springboks have hosted the Black Ferns on South African soil, it will not be the first time a New Zealand team has travelled to the country.

It was 13 months ago that South Africa hosted a Black Ferns XV team for two matches. In many ways, the Kiwis got a glimpse of what was to come in Exeter just several weeks later, as the physicality of the hosts challenged them in the first fixture.

The Black Ferns XV eventually won that game 34-26 in Cape Town. A week later, it was a totally different story as Swys de Bruin’s team won 41-24.

It was a comprehensive showing from the Boks, who saw Ayanda Malinga, Byrhandré Dolf, Libbie Janse van Rensburg, Yonela Ngixingolo, Lindelwa Gwala, Lerato Makua and Luchell Hanekom all make their way over the whitewash.

Saturday will see this burgeoning contest open its third chapter, played immediately before ahead of the third Test in an enthralling Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry series.