European stadiums to bid for South Africa rugby Test vs New Zealand Sport Business Top European stadiums are set to battle it out to host a special rugby Test match between New Zealand and South Africa. The All Blacks and Springboks have announced a British and Irish Lions-style tour for 2026 with New Zealand heading to the African continent. The tour will culminate in three Tests across Johannesburg and [...]
Exclusive: Wembley in line to stage Springboks match against Japan Sport Business The world champion South Africa rugby team will play at Wembley Stadium in November in a repeat of their “Miracle of Brighton” match against Japan, City AM understands. The Springboks, currently playing in the southern hemisphere Rugby Championship, will head to Europe in November for their traditional tour. They’re listed to face France on 8 [...]
FNB to replace MTN as sponsor of South Africa Rugby’s Springboks Sport Business Rugby world champions South Africa will unveil First National Bank (FNB) as its new front-of-shirt sponsor after ditching MTN, City AM understands. The Springboks announced on Tuesday that an eight-year partnership between the team and the mobile telecommunications provider had concluded following a spell that saw the senior men’s team win back-to-back Rugby World Cups [...]
Coca-Cola could return as major Premier League partner March 25, 2025 Soft drinks giant Coca-Cola could return as a major Premier League commercial partner having left the English top flight in 2022. The US firm is reportedly in talks with the Premier League over a multimillion pound agreement. The deal could be passed at a Premier League shareholder meeting later this week, Sky News’ Mark Kleinman [...]
Springboks face new bid for stake by Leeds United private equity investors Ackerley Sports Group January 6, 2025 The world champion Springboks could sell off a stake of their commercial rights company to investors in Leeds United as South African rugby looks for a stronger financial footing. Seattle-based firm Ackerley Sports Group LLC is reportedly set to revive plans to invest in the 2023 Rugby World Cup winners after an initial bid foundered [...]
Springboks enter long-term deal with British rugby brand Rhino January 1, 2025 The South Africa rugby Springboks have a seven-year deal with ball supplier Rhino in a major boost to the British-founded brand. The deal will see the world champions use Rhino balls for their home Test matches while the agreement stretches to the women’s international team, and the Currie Cup. Rian Oberholzer, chief executive of SA [...]
Ollie Phillips: Dupont leads my 2024 rugby union awards December 20, 2024 For my last rugby union column of 2024 in print it’s only right that we hand out a couple of awards covering the last 12 months. Rugby has seen an Olympic Games sit front and centre of the calendar while there have been some surprises in terms of domestic winners. It wasn’t easy but I’ve [...]
Fortress Twickenham breached: England in a dark, dark place November 18, 2024 England’s 29-20 loss to South Africa was their fifth defeat on the bounce. Fortress Twickenham has been breached and Eddie Jones is up next for Steve Borthwick. If deep-pocketed disruptors really were to tempt more than 100 players away from their clubs to form a LIV Golf-style rugby competition as mooted last week, they’d be [...]
Time for England’s wilting roses to blossom against Boks November 15, 2024 When penning this column the niggling thought in my mind is that there’s no possible way that England beat the Springboks. Steve Borthwick’s wilting roses are struggling across the board, and shipped a record points total against a southern hemisphere side at home under his tenure in last week’s loss to Australia. Meanwhile South Africa, [...]
Exclusive: Argentina and South Africa in talks to host Rugby Championship match in London November 12, 2024 World champions South Africa and World Cup semi-finalists Argentina are in talks to play a Rugby Championship fixture at London’s Allianz Stadium in 2025, City AM can reveal. Discussions have taken place about Twickenham hosting a match from the southern hemisphere’s equivalent of the Six Nations next autumn. It would be the first time that [...]