By Lucky Vince Pienaar
The rugby world, and especially Springbok supporters, can look forward to great contests on South African soil in the middle of the year.
By the time Ireland travel to South Africa in July, they will no doubt have won the Six Nations Tournament. After destroying France and Italy in the first two rounds, it’s hard to imagine Wales, England or Scotland halting their march to a convincing Grand Slam victory.
In the pool stages of the World Cup, Ireland beat South Africa, but nobody can say for sure if South Africa (or even Ireland) were playing at their absolute peak. But it was still a test match and the record shows that Andy Farrell’s Ireland team beat Rassie Erasmus’s Springboks.
The stage is set for two great test matches.
The All Blacks lost to the Springboks in the World Cup final — but they came ever so close, losing by only one point. Of all the “what-if” issues around the tournament, the decision to retain Ian Foster as coach must rank as the most interesting.
“What if” New Zealand was coached by the magical Scott Robertson? Would he have helped the All Blacks over the line?
The first match in Robertson’s stint as All Blacks coach is in July with matches against England, Fiji and Argentina, but he will have one eye on the big prize: facing the Springboks in August.
South Africa does not have the luxury of warm-up matches.
Erasmus will be well-pleased with the coaching unit he has put together, but it will be a baptism of fire. Their first match is against Ireland in July.
Will he make some experimental moves for that match, or will he go onto the field with his best possible team?
We don’t know what Erasmus will come up with, but rest assured there will be surprises.
Springbok schedule for 2024:
6 July: SA vs Ireland (Pretoria)
13 July: SA vs Ireland (Durban)
20 July: SA vs Portugal (Bloemfontein)
31 August: SA vs New Zealand (Johannesburg)
7 September: SA vs New Zealand (Cape Town)
28 September: SA vs Argentina (Nelspruit)
Pictured above: The Springboks.
Image source: X
