Springboks host Pumas in Rugby Championship return

The Springboks will make their return to the Castle Lager Rugby Championship with two home Tests against Argentina in August, before embarking on a four-match tour of Australasia, according to the 2021 tournament schedule announced by SANZAAR on Friday.

This year’s 12-match tournament will see two matches played in SA, five in Australia and five in New Zealand.

The Tests in SA will see Argentina play the Springboks twice before both teams head to Australia and New Zealand for the remainder of the tournament.

The match schedule has been amended to accommodate the ongoing effects of the pandemic, including continued international travel restrictions and government quarantine protocols in the member union territories.

It was hoped that the 2021 Castle Lager Rugby Championship, as announced last year, would comprise the four national teams playing each other on a home or away basis through a new mini-tour match schedule.

However, the pandemic makes this impossible at present and as a result, the 12-match tournament will be played in SA, Australia and New Zealand, with the Springboks making their return to the competition after missing out in 2020, when all the matches were hosted in Australia.

According to the 2021 schedule, the Springboks open their campaign against Argentina on Saturday August 14, a week after the conclusion of the Castle Lager Lions Series, before the second Test against the Pumas on August 21.

The Boks then travel to Australia.

Next on the fixture list are the Wallabies, on September 11 and 18, before the Springboks conclude their commitments with two Tests against the All Blacks in New Zealand on consecutive weekends — September 25 and October 2.

Director of rugby Rassie Erasmus said in his reaction to the draw the Springboks were delighted at the prospect of resuming their rivalry with their southern hemisphere opponents.

“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.

“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.”

After two home internationals against Georgia and the three-Test Castle Lager British and Irish Lions Series, the Tests against Argentina will give Springbok head coach Jacques Nienaber his first bite of southern hemisphere action.

“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,” Nienaber said.

“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.”  

SANZAAR CEO Brendan Morris said the competition format was agreed upon by members with the restrictions as a result of the pandemic in mind.

“We have worked tirelessly with the national unions through the continued difficulties associated with the pandemic,” Morris said.

“This includes ongoing international border travel restrictions, quarantine protocols and player welfare concerns.

“Therefore, we have been unable to roll out the previously agreed mini-tour format as we simply cannot play matches in Argentina at present due to the impact of the pandemic.”

Morris added: “The exciting news is that we do welcome back South Africa to TRC after a difficult 2020 when the pandemic made it impossible for them to participate.” — SA Rugby Communications