A majority Māori and Pacific All Blacks squad shows how far rugby’s ‘greatest rivalry’ has come

Alyse Wright /NZ Herald via Getty Images This weekend’s first test between the New Zealand All Blacks and South African Springboks will be played 105 years after the two nations first began the “greatest rivalry” in rugby in 1921. A great deal has changed in that time, including the composition of All Blacks teams and the players’ eligibility to tour the formerly apartheid republic. In 2026, well over half the squad of 44 have Māori or Pacific ethnic backgrounds. That would have been impossible…