The Greatest Rivalry Tour between South Africa and the All Blacks is retro rugby at its finest and should signal a return for old school tours

Everyone loves a bit of retro, and always has.

If you look at any of the decades of the past thirty years, many of the artistic interpretations of that period come from the decades of twenty years ago.

A classic example is the Urban Outfitters store in 2026. Opening the door to that store is like opening the door to my pine wardrobe in 2003.

Another great example is the Welsh Rugby Union who have just released an anthem jacket that wouldn’t look out of place in my 1987 wardrobe.

As an aside, I love that anthem jacket because it’s retro. But the deliberate and obvious retro design seems to have gone over the heads of many middle-aged Welsh rugby fans.

Read more: How to watch every minute of the Greatest Rivalry tour

When it was launched, many of my vintage supporters (50+) commented on social media that it “just looks like a bloody shell suit from the 80s”. Yeah, that’s the point.

If you wander around Cardiff at the weekend, most of the youngsters sport 70s mustaches and go out on a Saturday night in zip-up fleeces, baggy bleached denim jeans and white New Balance shoes (shoes worn by middle-aged men while tailgating on a typical Sunday in the 1990s).

That’s the point of ironic/retro fashion – most of the things you wouldn’t be seen dead in in the 1980s are now what most young people live in.

But that’s enough ranting about Welsh rugby fashion.

Why we should celebrate the tour of the biggest rivalry between South Africa and the All Blacks

It’s not just fashion that has started to look back for inspiration – in 2026, rugby tour organizers have done so too.

Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry Tour is retro perfection.

It’s a throwback to the rugby tours of the past, but with all the features of the modern era. For those unaware (or those who have been grossly diverted by the Welsh Rugby Union anthem jacket), this is a series of four Tests between South Africa and New Zealandand four games between the All Blacks and the South African franchise, viz. Stormers, Sharks, Bulls and Lions.

Although it’s a throwback to last year’s tours, as with all truly retro launches, there’s also a dash of modern thrown in.

The first three Tests will be played in South Africa and the fourth in the USA – with one eye on the host United States Men’s Rugby World Cup 2031 and the Women’s Rugby World Cup in 2033.

Before the tour, many were concerned that the games against the four franchises would be ‘smash’ – which the result against the Sharks certainly was.

It was 54-0 and one of the worst things to happen to the Sharks since Jaws 3 (the 3D one). However, the game against the Stormers was anything but a fluke – with age-defying Deon Fourie showing the youngsters how it’s done.

But all of these club/rehearsal tours have historically had the odd ‘blow out’. The British and Irish Lions tours are no different. That’s almost the beauty of these tours, because each game is often not that significant on its own, but the tour is seen as a whole when it’s over.

It’s like the difference between loving a single and appreciating an entire album. For example, while the Sharks were blown up, everyone watched as Ma’a Nonu unleashed a one-man hack against his nation.

It was great in every way – it sent shivers down my spine and right into my Nike Dunks (originally launched in 1985).

The benefits of returning on such tours are great and varied. Firstly, it feels new and any kind of innovation in rugby is welcome – even if it’s retro.

Secondly, they allow players who may never play Test rugby the opportunity to have a crack at Test level opposition.

Third, they allow local audiences to see their players play their best again, which for many will be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

Swansea’s Tony Clement passes the ball during the match against Australia in Swansea, Wales. Swansea won 21-6. (Gray Mortimore/Allsport)

I still remember watching Swansea beat Australia in St Helens in 1992 – I was 15. It was 2.n.d November and according to a quick Google search Scott Gibbs and Garin Jenkins scored tries and Aled Williams successfully converted a try, kicked two penalties and kicked a goal.

I had to look up the details of the match as I remember being sidetracked by someone wearing the awesome new Nike Air Huarache (which launched in 1992 and relaunched in 2001).

And fourthly, and perhaps most importantly, this tour will make money – and that’s what professional rugby is all about. New Zealand in particular need cash, so you can’t blame them or the Boks for wanting this tour. At Test level, it’s not just dog-eat-dog on the field, it’s the same if not worse for their nations’ accountants.

Is this the way to develop the game?

This season saw the inaugural Rugby Nations Championship receive a ton of unwarranted criticism for modernizing the Test rugby format, yet in the same season we get a glimpse of two of the biggest rugby nations in the world taking their hats off to the amateur elements of the old-fashioned club/Test tour.

It seems like a good balance.

Maybe, with a little luck, these tours will revive. Imagine England touring France. You could really step up the rivalry with those sets.

If you ran a four test/four club series in France, with England’s fully branded Agincourt 1415 seeded in limited edition shirts, then you couldn’t afford a ticket without selling a pair of mint Air Jordan 1s.

After that, it’s only a short hop before Scotland tour the north of England, the winners to draw the line again and a three-Test final between Wales and England in Hereford – the winners get the city and all that’s in it.

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