Today’s Rugby: Currie Cup, the NPC, and the road to two World Cups.
No World Cup kicks off today — but there’s still a full weekend of rugby on, from South Africa’s provincial title race to New Zealand’s biggest tour of the year. Here’s everything that matters.
Currie Cup — Griquas Chase a Fourth Straight Win
Round 5 · Premier DivisionSouth Africa’s provincial title race is heating up. Suzuki Griquas sit top of the Carling Currie Cup Premier Division log on 16 points after a three-match winning streak, headlined by a 31–19 win over the Lions last round in which fly-half George Whitehead contributed 11 points, including a late drop goal. They host the Hollywoodbets Sharks XV (seventh, 10 points) tonight at Suzuki Stadium, Kimberley.
Elsewhere on the round, the Sharks XV themselves ended a two-match losing run last weekend with a 19–12 win over the Boland Kavaliers, and now travel in confident mood. The Lions, fresh off that narrow loss to Griquas, host Boland at Ellis Park looking to bounce back.
| Team | Pld | W | L | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Suzuki Griquas | 4 | 3 | 1 | 16 |
| Hollywoodbets Sharks XV | 4 | 2 | 2 | 10 |
| Fidelity ADT Lions | 4 | 2 | 2 | — |
| Sanlam Boland Kavaliers | 4 | 1 | 3 | — |
“Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry” — New Zealand’s Tour of South Africa
7 Aug – 12 Sep 2026The tour dominating conversation across South African rugby this month: New Zealand are midway through an eight-match tour of South Africa, mixing games against United Rugby Championship sides with four full Test matches against the Springboks. The All Blacks have already faced the Stormers in Cape Town and the Sharks in Durban, and now turn to Pretoria.
| Fixture | Date | Venue |
|---|---|---|
| Stormers vs New Zealand | Fri 7 Aug | Cape Town Stadium |
| Sharks vs New Zealand | Tue 11 Aug | Kings Park, Durban |
| Bulls vs New Zealand | Sat 15 Aug | Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria |
| South Africa vs New Zealand (Test 1) | Sat 22 Aug | Ellis Park, Johannesburg |
| Lions vs New Zealand | Tue 25 Aug | Ellis Park, Johannesburg |
The centrepiece Tests build toward a fourth match later in the tour that will be played at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore — an unusual U.S. staging for a Springboks–All Blacks Test, aimed at growing the rivalry’s audience in North America.
New Zealand Domestic — NPC & Heartland Championship
Round 3New Zealand’s provincial season is underway with Bunnings NPC Round 3 and a full weekend of Heartland Championship fixtures — the tier below, contested by the country’s smaller rural unions.
Storylines Worth Watching
Griquas’ lead at the top of the Currie Cup log
The defending champions have won three straight and will fancy stretching that run against a Sharks XV side missing several first-team regulars.
Springboks face the All Blacks four times this tour
Including a first-ever Test between the two nations in the United States, part of a push to grow the rivalry’s global reach.
Host cities locked in for the 2026 Rugby League World Cup
Spread across Australia, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea, hosting men’s, women’s and wheelchair tournaments in parallel.
The Actual World Cups — What’s Coming, and When
2026 Rugby League World Cup
Begins October 2026. Hosted across Australia, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea. Men’s (10 teams), women’s (8 teams) and wheelchair (8 teams) tournaments run simultaneously, 52 matches total. Originally slated for 2025 in France before a host withdrawal pushed it to the southern hemisphere.
2027 Men’s Rugby World Cup
The next union World Cup is hosted by Australia in 2027 — no matches yet. Qualification is ongoing through regional tournaments including the Rugby Europe Championship and Asia Rugby Championship.
World Rugby Nations Cup
Inaugural second-tier competition for men’s international teams, 12 teams, run alongside the Nations Championship — effectively a new global structure feeding into future World Cup qualification.
Loftus Versfeld
Pretoria, South Africa · Home of the Bulls · Hosts New Zealand tomorrow in one of the tour’s marquee midweek-into-weekend fixtures.
Suzuki Stadium
Kimberley, South Africa · Home of the Griquas · Log leaders host tonight looking to extend their winning streak to four.
Bunnings NPC
New Zealand’s premier provincial rugby union competition, running through October and serving as the pathway to Super Rugby Pacific selection.
