There are actually lower than 200 days to go till the Springboks kick off their Rugby World Cup title defence on Sunday, 10 September, towards Scotland in Marseille. This can be adopted by pool matches towards Romania in Bordeaux (17 September), Ireland in Paris (23 September) and Tonga in Marseille (1 October).
Although the Springboks have a beneficial total file of outcomes towards Ireland, there isn’t a denying that the northern hemisphere foes have developed impressively over the past couple of years. The Irish are totally deserving of their rating on the prime of the World Rugby standings, whereas they’re carefully adopted by France.
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South Africa are down in fourth spot, however they are going to be protecting a cautious eye on fifth-placed Scotland, a crew that appears more and more harmful. The Scots have loved an unimaginable run of kind of their newest matches towards England, whereas their kind within the Six Nations has been noticeable. On their day, there isn’t a doubt that Scotland can beat any crew in world rugby.
Eben Etzebeth, Lukhanyo Am and Bongi Mbonambi just lately chatted to SuperSport in regards to the prospects of these prime northern hemisphere foes, acknowledging {that a} harmful prospect lay in wait.
“Ireland and Scotland have been doing really well, and so it will be a big challenge for us at the World Cup to get out of our pool, so we will have to be well-prepared physically and mentally,” Etzebeth commented.
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The Springboks gained’t have a simple journey in France
Keep in thoughts that the Springboks realistically can solely afford to lose one sport of their World Cup pool section, and even then, it gained’t get any simpler within the quarter-finals.
The defending champions are anticipated to face both New Zealand or France within the quarter-finals. Both of these groups are at present forward of them within the rankings as properly.
There is not any want to panic, however the Springboks can be rising more and more conscious of simply what an enormous process lies forward of them on the World Cup. Not to point out the very fact there can be an enormous goal on their backs because the defending champs.
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The Springboks will kick off a bumper 2023 season towards Australia in Pretoria on Saturday, 8 July, within the opening spherical of the shortened Castle Lager Rugby Championship, which can be adopted by clashes towards New Zealand on the Mount Smart Stadium in Auckland every week later, and Argentina in Johannesburg on Saturday, 29 July, of their remaining match on residence soil earlier than the build-up to their Rugby World Cup defence begins.
They will then journey to Buenos Aires in August to tackle the Pumas earlier than dealing with Wales and the All Blacks in Rugby World Cup warm-up matches in Cardiff and London within the remaining build-up to the extravaganza in France.
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FIXTURES IN 2023
Rugby Championship:
✈ 8 July: Springboks vs Australia (Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria)
✈ 15 July: Springboks vs New Zealand (Venue and time TBC)
✈ 29 July: Springboks vs Argentina (Ellis Park, Johannesburg)
World Cup warm-ups:
✈ 5 August: Springboks vs Argentina (Vélez Stadium, Buenos Aires)
✈ 19 August: Springboks vs Wales (Millennium Stadium, Cardiff)
✈ 25 August: Springboks vs New Zealand (Twickenham Stadium, London)
Rugby World Cup:
✈ 10 September: South Africa vs Scotland (Stade Vélodrome, Marseille)
✈ 17 September: South Africa vs Romania (Stade de Bordeaux, Bordeaux)
✈ 23 September: South Africa vs Ireland (Stade de France, Saint-Denis, Paris)
✈ 1 October: South Africa vs Tonga (Stade Vélodrome, Marseille)
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Quarter-finals sequence of play is as follows:QF 1 — Winner Pool C vs Runner up Pool D
QF 2 — Winner Pool B vs Runner up Pool A
QF 3 — Winner Pool D vs Runner up Pool C
QF 4 — Winner Pool A vs Runner up Pool B
Semi-finals sequence of play is as follows:
SF 1 — Winner QF1 v Winner QF2
SF 2 — Winner QF3 v Winner QF4
Third place playoff:
Loser SF 1 vs Loser SF 2
World Cup remaining:
Winner SF 1 vs Winner SF 2
