Springboks Rugby Championship plans revealed
The Rugby Championship schedule has been revealed and the Springboks will start with two home tests against Argentina starting on 14 August.
The Southern Hemisphere competition did not feature the Springboks in 2020 due to the impact that the nationwide lockdown had on local players and their lack of preparation.
2020's edition was downscaled to the Tri-Nations which was won by the All Blacks.
The Rugby Champs is going to form part of a heavy international schedule for South Africa who are still to play a test match since they won the World Cup final in November 2019.
The Boks begin their return with a two test series against Georgia before the British & Irish Lions arrive for three test matches.
The British and Irish Lions series is the highlight of this year for South African rugby and that series finishes just a week before they begin their Rugby Championship campaign against Los Pumas.
Despite the importance of the Lions series, playing against New Zealand, Australia and Argentina remains a crucial part of South African rugby and Director of Rugby Rassie Erasmus is looking forward to another international competition.
“Following the unfortunate COVID-related disruptions of last year, we are very much looking forward to resume playing against the Pumas, Wallabies and the All Blacks,” Erasmus said through a Springbok media statement.
“There is a great rivalry between us, but we also have a lot of respect for each other and have built good friendships over many years of southern hemisphere competition.
“Playing the All Blacks in their backyard is a massive challenge, Argentina showed their growing stature last year while the Wallabies are always tough opponents, especially on their home turf.”
2021’s schedule is going to be a demanding one, but coach Jacques Nienaber is excited that they can get back out on the field in the Green and Gold.
“The two Tests against Argentina take the number of Springbok home matches this year to seven, which makes it an exciting but challenging home programme for us,” said Nienaber.
“We are grateful to all involved, at SANZAAR and SA Rugby, for the hard work being done to make this all possible, keeping in mind all the current pandemic difficulties.”
Following the two tests against Argentina, South Africa will be based in either New Zealand or Australia for the remainder of the competition.
The Springbok test versus the All Blacks in Dunedin will be the one-hundredth match between the two countries.
The 2021 Castle Lager Rugby Championship draw (host country in brackets):
Saturday 14 August
Springboks v Argentina (South Africa)
Saturday 21 August
Argentina v Springboks (South Africa)
Australia v New Zealand (Australia)
Saturday 28 August
New Zealand v Australia (New Zealand)
Saturday 4 September – bye week
Saturday 11 September
New Zealand v Argentina (New Zealand)
Springboks v Australia (Australia)
Saturday 18 September
Argentina v New Zealand (New Zealand)
Australia v Springboks (Australia)
Saturday 25 September
New Zealand v Springboks (New Zealand)
Australia v Argentina (Australia)
Saturday 2 October
Springboks v New Zealand (New Zealand)
Argentina v Australia (Australia)
