Bloemfontein gets a Test as Springboks home schedule confirmed
The Springboks full home Test schedule for the 2024 season has been revealed including two clashes with the All Blacks.
It has now been made clear who the Springboks will face across the 2024 season with all their home games now settled.
The Springboks have added a Test against Portugal to their 2024 Test schedule with the one-off match set to follow the two-match series against Ireland.
The team directed by Rassie Erasmus will play Portugal in Bloemfontein on 20 July 20 after facing Ireland in Pretoria and Durban on 6 July and 13 July 2024.
SPRINGBOKS ADD HISTORIC TEST AGAINST PORTUGAL
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When the Springboks play Ireland at Loftus Versfeld, they will have resumed play after a 252-day break. A week later, on their first trip to South Africa in eight years, the Six Nations winners reassemble at Kings Park.
The Rugby World cup champions prevailed 2-1 in the 2016 series, but Ireland has since won all three encounters (and five of the previous seven) between the two sides, most recently in a thrilling 13-8 triumph in Marseille during the Rugby World Cup pool stage.
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NEW GROUND
A week later, on 20 July, the Springboks will take on Portugal in their first Test match in the city of roses. Portugal made a lasting impression at the Rugby World Cup by thrillingly drawing with Georgia and then defeating Fiji 24-23 in their last group encounter.
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As part of the Rugby Championship, fellow World Cup finalists New Zealand will make a return in August and September for a pair of Rugby Championship Tests. For the first time since 2009, the Boks will be looking to defeat the All Blacks three times in a row on 31 August.
THE SPRINGBOKS’ HOME TEST SCHEDULE FOR 2024
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1. Saturday, July 6: Springboks v Ireland (Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria)
2. Saturday, July 13: Springboks v Ireland (Hollywoodbets Kings Park, Durban)
3. Saturday, July 20: Springboks v Portugal (Bloemfontein)
4. Saturday, August 31: Springboks v New Zealand (Emirates Airline Park, Johannesburg)
5. Saturday, September 7: Boks v New Zealand (DHL Stadium, Cape Town)
6. Saturday, September 28: Boks v Argentina (Mbombela Stadium, Nelspruit)