New Zealand's Tour of South Africa: All Blacks pull away late on in flattering 38-21 win over Stormers
New Zealand start South Africa tour with unconvincing win over Stormers; All Blacks playing eight matches including four Tests against Springboks, with final game taking place in USA; Watch New Zealand's Tour of South Africa until Saturday September 12, live on Sky Sports
Friday 7 August 2026 20:41, UK
New Zealand's first full-scale tour of South Africa in 30 years began with an underwhelming 38-21 win over the Stormers.
The scoreline flattered a scratch All Blacks side which was favoured to win comfortably.
The makeshift Stormers - in pre-season mode - rallied twice to tie the score, which was knotted at 14-14 until 13 minutes to go.
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When the Stormers lost their second scrum-half and had no more reserve backs, the patched-up backline was ruthlessly exposed by New Zealand, who scored three tries in the last eight minutes.
But the result only papered over a performance that was blighted by ill-discipline, three yellow cards, and a struggling set-piece.
They overcame those with six tries to three by the Stormers in front of a 47,130 crowd.
The good news for the All Blacks was they appeared to finish with no major injuries, seven players made their first appearance in the black jersey this year, and two more made their debuts off the bench; prop Siale Lauaki and inside back Josh Jacomb.
But the most impressive players in the stadium were Stormers fly-half Yaqeen Ahmed, who looked comfortably cool in his first-class debut at age 20, and flanker Deon Fourie, the dynamo who will be 40 next month.
Watch New Zealand's Tour of South Africa live on Sky Sports
