The Test meant to take place between a Springbok XV and France at the Boland Stadium on June the 17th have been cancelled due to logistical difficulties.
The match was scheduled to be sandwiched between the Test between the Springboks and France Cape Town on June 12 and Argentina’s home test against France on June 19, but has now been shelved.
Springbok coach Peter de Villiers will be asked to ‘test combinations’ as a way to rotate players to avoid player burnout ahead of the World Cup next year in New Zealand.
This proposal comes from South African Rugby Union President Oregan Hoskins, who on Tuesday confirmed earlier media reports that the Boks will feature in an additional Test against Wales at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff on June 5.
Labelling the game a “rematch of the first game ever played at the Millennium Stadium” - when the two teams met in Cardiff 10 years ago - SARU glossed over the fact that the game will bring to 15 the number of internationals South Africa will feature in this year.
Media reports earlier suggested that SARU is ‘killing the Goose that lays the golden egg’.
With the Test against Wales now confirmed, it means the Boks will play seven Test matches in sevens weeks (eight Saturdays) in June and July.
Those seven Tests in June and July are two against New Zealand and one against Australia, one against the top Six Nations team France and two against Italy. Plus the one against Wales, of course.
The Springboks’ fixtures has been confirmed for their end-of-year tour and they will play all of the ‘Home Unions’ in November. SARU made the announcement on Friday following confirmation of the fixture programme by the International Rugby Board (IRB).
The Springboks start the tour against Ireland in Dublin on November 6, having accepted an invitation to provide the opposition for hosts Ireland when they officially open the new Aviva Stadium (the redeveloped Lansdowne Road).
The Springboks then play Wales, Scotland and England on the following Saturdays. The tour is planned to end with a fixture against the Barbarians at a venue to be confirmed.
Meanwhile the venue of the Springboks’ season-opening test against France on June 12 remains undecided. SARU are hoping to meet the local organising committee of the FIFA 2010 World Cup to arrive at a final decision on the availability of the Newlands Stadium in Cape Town.
Six Nations Grand Slam champions Ireland ended their year on a suitably high note in Dublin on Saturday with a commendable 15-10 victory over world and Tri-Nations champions Springboks for their third successive home win over the visitors.
Ireland’s young fly-half Jonathan Sexton - preferred to 93-times capped Ronan O’Gara - kicked all their points while Schalk Burger got the only try of the match for the Springboks, who ended their long season on a low note with just one win in five matches on their northern hemisphere tour.
The opening few minutes saw more action than both England and Argentina managed in a whole match a fortnight ago as a knocked on ball from a promising move by Ireland’s back division ended up with Morne Steyn missing a drop goal.
The Springboks finally broke their duck on their overseas tour when they produced the couple of moments of individual brilliance that was all that was needed to beat Italy 32-10 at Stadio Friuli in Udine.
It was South Africa’s first win in their fourth match on tour, and should at least go some way towards easing some of the mounting pressure on a team that has been a long way short of the form that propelled them to the country’s third Vodacom Tri-Nations title.
But while the final scoreline was emphatic enough in the Springbok favour, and when some of the more experienced players were introduced in the second half the visitors settled noticeably, it was not the rousing performance that might have been hoped for to erase the memory of the past two weeks.
Springbok coach Peter de Villiers said that the Springboks will not underestimate the Italians when they meet at the Stadio Friuli in Udine on Saturday.
Speaking at a press conference in the Northern Italian city after making four changes to the Bok starting XV that lost to France last weekend, De Villiers said the Italians had shown great improvements in recent seasons and were fast becoming a force to be reckoned with.
“The more experience they gain, the better they are becoming and they are able to compete with any team on the day,” De Villiers said.
“They have a very good pack of forwards and they showed in their match against New Zealand that they will be very competitive at scrum time.”
Stephen Jones of the London Sunday Times have severely ridiculed the Springbok’s front row and scrummaging on ehat he calls the “myth of South Africa’s formidable props and scrummaging”.
This is what the veteran Welsh rugby writer had to say:
”Once we get a supposed national characteristic into our heads, a national trait or a so-called national strength, there is no shifting it. It becomes a consuming dogma.
“You know the sort of thing: West Indies produce great fast bowlers. The French are rude and shocking drivers. The Scots are tight as ducks’ backsides. Wales produces wonderful sports journalists. Aussie and Kiwi referees are scandalously bad. Germans hog the towels on holiday. Well, most of these notions are just typecasting. Most.
The Springboks‘ end-of-year-tour went from bad to worse last night as they went down 24 - 23 to a spirited Saracens side at Wembley.
After a promising start in which they built up a 18-6 lead at halftime the Springboks fell away drastically in the second period as an amazing midweek crowd of 46 281 cheered Sarries home to a famous victory.
Notwithstanding Welsh referee James Jones making a number of odd decisions that favoured Sarries and the fact that this was South Africa’s second string the Springboks’ proud record of being the No 1 side in the world lay in tatters as they prepared to fly to Italy for Saturday’s test against Italy.
In what was a match between the Experimental Boks and the Expatriate Boks (Saracens had ten South Africans, including four former Boks, in their squad) the supposed next generation of Springbok rugby was made to look thoroughly inept once the Guinness Premiership log leaders got a sniff of victory in the second half.
Brendan Venter, Saracens’ director of coaching was asked to leave Springbok practice at Old Albanians training ground on Monday before Tuesday’s friendly match against the English club side.
The Springboks meet Saracens at Wembley on Tuesday night where they are desperate for a win after losing to Leicester and France so far on tour.
The Bok coaching staff were rightly upset that Venter was at the side of the field, despite the close working relationship between the club and tourists.
On Sunday night Springbok and Saracens players enjoyed a meal and drinks together but on Monday it was business as usual and the sight of Venter worried the team management.
Media manager Anthony Mackaiser was dispatched to ask Venter to leave, which lead to a terse exchange between the two.
Imanol Harinordoquy, French flanker have named the Springboks the best team in the World, but added that the Boks are a nasty team to contend with.
Harinordoquy, who will start on the flank this weekend alongside captain Thierry Dusautoir and No.8 Louis Picamoles, says he is looking forward to the challenge of taking on the World Champions when the two powerful teams collide in France on Friday.
Expecting a physical challenge, the Biarritz star says, while they stay within the laws, the Boks are a ‘nasty’ outfit to have to contend with. Ironically, given his own physical nature, the term nasty seems to be one which the Frenchman uses as a compliment for John Smit’s men.
“South Africa are world champions, they are the best team in the world but they also are the nastiest and most physical team in the world. A team that is always trying to hurt,” he explained to journalists on Monday.
Or you can subscribe via e-mail:
