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Springboks fly out Thursday for first away matches in 22 months
The Springboks, the 2019 Rugby Championship title winners, will fly to Australia on Thursday to prepare for their first away matches next month since being crowned World Cup champions in November 2019. South Africa took the world by storm in Japan nearly two years ago but the pandemic has meant that the six Test matches they have played since then have all been at home against Georgia, the Lions and Argentina.
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Having opted out of last year’s Rugby Championship, which was staged in Australia, due to fears about their players not being conditioned enough after the sport in South Africa had ground to a halt due to the pandemic, the Springboks are now more than ready to complete a 2021 campaign that commenced in recent weeks with back-to-back wins over Argentina in Port Elizabeth.
Amid continuing concerns over Covid-19 and travel restrictions, SANZAAR decided that the remaining four rounds of the Championship would be best played in the Gold Coast, Brisbane and Townsville.
The Springboks, who haven’t played an away match in the Rugby Championship since defeating Argentina in Salta in August 2019 to win that year’s title, will kick off the away leg of their 2021 campaign against Australia on Sunday, September 12, in the Gold Coast which will be followed by another match-up between the teams in Brisbane six days later.
These fixtures will be followed by back-to-back matches against New Zealand on Saturday, September 25, in Townsville and Saturday, October 2, in the Gold Coast. The matches were initially scheduled to be hosted in Sydney, Brisbane, Dunedin and Auckland respectively.
Europe and South Africa were both reportedly options…https://t.co/Qk2DiJc3vc
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) August 23, 2021
Each round will feature a double-header of matches between the four participating teams at the same venue – and fans will be allowed to attend the matches. “We’re pleased that the Castle Lager Rugby Championship match schedule has been finalised and we are looking forward to continuing our campaign in Australia,” said Springbok coach Jacques Nienaber.
“We can now continue our planning to ensure that the players are ready for the next four matches from a physical and mental point of view and we are excited about facing our old foes Australia and New Zealand again after kicking off the tournament well against Argentina.”
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The Springboks and Pumas will travel to Australia together on Thursday afternoon and both teams will be placed in quarantine for two weeks before taking the field, after which they will then operate normally in Australia with no restrictions being placed on their movements.
Despite being in quarantine, the Boks will be allowed to train as they have been in South Africa since the start of the Lions series. “The two-week quarantine period means we will be on tour for just under six weeks, but we are looking forward to experiencing normal life after a year-and-a-half of living under several forms of adjusted Covid-19 restrictions in South Africa,” said Nienaber.
“This will certainly assist in ensuring that the players are fresh mentally when they take the field, which is essential for them to peak in form.” The Springboks have had Monday and Tuesday off to rest and recover from the physically and mentally taxing schedule of the last two months.
UPDATED RUGBY CHAMPIONSHIP SCHEDULE
Round One – August 14
New Zealand 57 Australia 22 (Eden Park, Auckland)
Springboks 32 Argentina 12 (Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, Nelson Mandela Bay)
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Round Two – August 21
Argentina 10 Springboks 29 (Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, Nelson Mandela Bay)
TBC: Australia v New Zealand (Optus Stadium, Perth)
Round Three – September 12 (CBUS Super Stadium, Gold Coast)
New Zealand v Argentina
Springboks v Australia
Round Four – September 18 (Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane)
Argentina v New Zealand
Australia v Springboks
Round Five – September 25 (QLD Country Bank Stadium, Townsville)
New Zealand v Springboks
Australia v Argentina
Round Six – October 2 (CBUS Super Stadium, Gold Coast)
Springboks v New Zealand
Argentina v Australia
Ian Foster has convinced the powers that be that he's the man to put the All Blacks back on top of the world. #AllBlackshttps://t.co/eFz2rtosdQ
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) August 24, 2021
Comments on RugbyPass
Billy's been playing consistently well for 2 - 3 seasons now and deserves a look in at the top level. Ioane and ALB are still first choice but there needs to be injury cover and succession. His partnership with Jordie gives him first dibs you'd think. Go the Hurricanes.
3 Go to commentsIt’s not up to Wales to support Georgian Rugby. That’s up to International Rugby and Georgia. I sympathise with Georgia’s decent attempt to create this fixture. But for Wales the proposed match up is just a potential stick to beat them with and a potential big psychological blow that young Welsh team doesn’t need. (I’m Irish BTW.)
2 Go to commentsCale certainly looks great in space, but as you say, he has struggled in contact. At 23 years old, turning 24 this year, he should be close to full physical maturity and yet there exists a considerable gap in the power and physicality required for international rugby. Weight doesn’t automatically equate to power and physicality either. Can he go from a player who’s being physically dominated in Super rugby to physically dominating in international rugby in 1 or 2 years? That’s a big ask but he may end up being a late bloomer.
28 Go to commentsIf rugby wants to remain interesting in the AI era then it will need to work on changing the rules. AI will reduce the tactical advantage of smart game plans, will neutralize primary attacking weapons, and will move rugby from a being a game of inches to a game of millimetres. It will be about sheer athleticism and technique,about avoiding mistakes, and about referees. Many fans will find that boring. The answer is to add creative degrees of freedom to the game. The 50-22 is an example. But we can have fun inventing others, like the right to add more players for X minutes per game, or the equivalent of the 2-point conversion in American football, the ability to call a 12-player scrum, etc. Not saying these are great ideas, but making the point that the more of these alternatives you allow, the less AI will be able to lock down high-probability strategies. This is not because AI does not have the compute power, but because it has more choices and has less data, or less-specific data. That will take time and debate, but big, positive and immediate impact could be in the area of ref/TMO assistance. The technology is easily good enough today to detect forward passes, not-straight lineouts, offside at breakdown/scrum/lineout, obstruction, early/late tackles, and a lot of other things. WR should be ultra aggressive in doing this, as it will really help in an area in which the game is really struggling. In the long run there needs to be substantial creativity applied to the rules. Without that AI (along with all of the pro innovations) will turn rugby into a bash fest.
24 Go to commentsSouth Africa rarely play Ireland and France on these tours. Mostly, England, Scotland and Wales. I wonder why
1 Go to commentsIt was a let’s-see-what-you're-made-of type of a game. The Bulls do look good when the opposition allows them to, but Munster shut them down, and they could not find a way through. Jake should be very worried about their chances in the competition.
2 Go to commentsHats off to Fabian for a very impressive journey to date. Is it as ‘uniquely unlikely’ as Rugby Pass suggests, given Anton Segner’s journey at the Blues?
1 Go to commentsSad that this was not confirmed. When administrators talk about expanding the game they evidently don’t include pathways to the top tier of rugby for teams outside of the old boys club. Rugby deserves better, and certainly Georgia does.
2 Go to commentsLions might take him on if they move on Van Rooyen but I doubt he will want to go back, might consider it a step backwards for himself. Sharks would take him on but if Plumtree goes on to win the challenge cup they will keep him on. Also sharks showing some promising signs recently. Stormers and Bulls are stable and Springboks are already filled up. Quality coach though, interesting to see where he ends up
1 Go to commentsAnd the person responsible for creating a culture of accountability is?
3 Go to commentsMore useless words from Ben Smith -Please get another team to write about. SA really dont need your input, it suck anyway.
264 Go to commentsThis disgraceful episode must result in management and coach team sackings. A new manager with worse results than previous and the coaching staff need to coached. Awful massacre led by donkeys.
1 Go to commentsInteresting article with one glaring mistake. This sentence: “And between the top four nations right now, Ireland, France, South Africa, and New Zealand…” should read: And between the top four nations right now, South Africa, Ireland, New Zealand and France…”. Get it right wistful thinkers, its not that hard.
24 Go to commentsHow did Penny get the gig anyway?
3 Go to commentsNice write up Nick and I would have agreed a week ago. However as you would know Cale & co got absolutely monstered by the Blues back row of Sotutu, Ioane and Papaliti and not all of these 3 are guaranteed a start in the Black jumper. He may need to put some kgs before stepping up, Spring tour? After the week end Joe will be a bit more restless. Will need to pick a mobile tough pack for Wales and hope England does the right thing and bashes the ABs. I like your last paragraph but I would bring Swinton, Hannigan into the 6 role and Bobby V to 8
28 Go to commentsThe Crusaders can still get in to the Play Off’s. The imminent return of outstanding captain Scott Barrett and his All Black team mate Codie Taylor will be a big boost.There are others like Tamaiti Williams too. Two home games coming up. Fellow Crusader fans get there and support these guys. I will be.
2 Go to commentsCant get more Wellington than Proctor.
3 Go to commentsWhy not let the media decide. Like how they choose the head coach. Like most of us we entrust the rugby system to choose. A rugby team includes the coaches. It's collective.
14 Go to commentsHi NIck, I have been very impressed with him and he seems a smart player who can see opportunities which Bobby V _(who must be an international 6_) doesn’t see or have the speed to take advantage of. If he continues to improve and puts on 5kgs then he could be a great 8. He is a bit taller than Keiran Reid at 1.93m and 111 kgs, so his skill set fits his body size and who knows where it will lead. I hope the spate of Achilles tendon issues have been dealt with by the S&C people. It’s been a very long time since Mark Loane and Kefu stood out at 8. The question is will we be able to hold onto him, if he does make it he will be pretty hot property. I disagree with the idea of letting them go to the Northern Hemisphere and then bring them back.
28 Go to commentsBilly Fulton 🤣🤣🤣🤣 garrrmon not even close
14 Go to comments