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.
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.”
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)
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
Wasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
3 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
3 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
3 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
30 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
3 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusaders , you can keep going.
3 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
30 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
30 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
30 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
9 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
30 Go to comments