Springboks and All Blacks take rivalry to Baltimore in test of rugby's American ambitions

The fourth and deciding Test in the series between South Africa and New Zealand will be played in Baltimore on Saturday – a fixture nicknamed the “money game” that is expected to generate up to $8 million, shared equally between the two unions.

Rian Oberholzer, chief executive of South African Rugby, made no apology for the commercial framing, saying the match would not be happening were the financial upside not significant, Daniel Gallan writes for the New York Timeslink text.

Branded “Rugby's Greatest Rivalry”, the series was designed with the United States market in mind – the world's richest sporting economy and host of the 2031 men's World Cup.

The initiative dates back to the 2023 World Cup final in France, where South Africa beat New Zealand. The unions subsequently agreed to stage the series every four years, alternating hosts, with New Zealand due to host in 2030. Baltimore was chosen partly because of the city's ambitions to host 2031 World Cup matches, and the fixture forms part of World Rugby's £200 million investment in growing the American market.

World Rugby chief executive Alan Gilpin said the governing body was studying the NFL's international series as a model, and described the US as effectively a continent rather than a single market. Notably, USA Rugby itself will not share in this match's gate revenue – World Rugby's return is a longer-term one, built around audience growth ahead of the 2031 World Cup.

The rivalry between the two nations, which stretches back to 1921 and 113 previous meetings, carries significant political history, from the 1981 anti-apartheid protests during the Springboks' tour of New Zealand to Nelson Mandela's presentation of the 1995 World Cup trophy to Francois Pienaar in Johannesburg.

The first three Tests produced a victory for the All Blacks followed by consecutive wins for the Springboks on home soil.

Some observers suggested the “real” series was already effectively over, with Baltimore dismissed as a financial afterthought. New Zealand Rugby chief executive Steve Lancaster rejected that framing, insisting his side regards the US leg as a genuine continuation of the series rather than an exhibition match.

Organisers hope the series can eventually resemble a southern-hemisphere equivalent of cricket's Ashes, restoring the traditional bilateral touring format that professional rugby's crowded international calendar has largely displaced.

Success, World Rugby argues, would give other unions a template for turning historic rivalries into sustainable revenue, while failure would leave Baltimore as a one-off payday that moved a match across an ocean without moving rugby's culture with it.