Springboks will take on Ireland in white this weekend
It has been confirmed that the Springboks will play in their third kit when they front Ireland in first game of the two-Test series at Loftus on Saturday.
The Springboks will play a their first Test on home soil post-World Cup when they square off against Ireland in Pretoria on Saturday afternoon.
BOKS’ OFFICIAL STRIP FOR FIRST TEST REVEALED
As is customary in rugby, when there is a colour clash between two sides, the home team must wear a changed strip, a law in direct opposition to what happens in football, where it’s the away team that changes their jersey to avoid a kit clash.
This led to the establishment that the Springboks would not be permitted to don their traditional green match-day jerseys so as to avoid colour clash with Ireland’s lighter green.
However, what was unclear was whether the hosts would wear ‘hyper-jade and white’ jersey — more broadly referred to as the ‘Checkers Sixty60’ kit — which is the team’s official alternate kit, or whether they’d have to don the third available strip (a white jersey with the hyper-jade collar).
This debate stemmed arose because the ‘Checkers Sixty60’ strip also clashes with the light green jersey of Ireland.
Well, there’s no need to debate and fret over what the Springboks will wear anymore. The Springboks’ official team photo for Saturday’s Test had been taken and released earlier on Friday morning, with the players sporting the white jersey with the hyper-jade collar and shorts.
SPRINGBOKS VERSUS IRELAND MATCH DETAILS
This weekend’s match kicks off 17h00 SA time and will be broadcast live on SuperSport.
Prior to the encounter, you can check out some key facts and figures below.
Springboks record against Ireland:
Played 28, Won 18, Lost 9, Drawn 1. Points for: 530; Points against: 412. Tries scored: 72; Tries conceded: 38. Highest score: 38; Biggest win: 38 points (38-0). Average score: 19-15. Win %: 64.2%.
Milestones:
- Only two players in the Springboks’ forward pack – Ox Nche and Kwagga Smith – have fewer than 69 Test caps.
- Only one player in the backline has fewer than 30 Test caps, namely Kurt-Lee Arendse.
- Only three players in the team were not members of the RWC-winning squad (Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, Salmaan Moerat, Gerhard Steenekamp).
- Willie le Roux needs only six Test caps after Saturday’s match to join the select club of the Springboks’ centurions.
Miscellaneous:
- The total Test caps for the Springboks’ starting line-up is 966, the second most experienced team ever selected by South Africa after the 987-capped side for the RWC final last year.
- There are 403 caps in the backline, with 563 caps among the forwards. On the bench there are a further 182
- The average caps per player in the backline is 57, the forwards 70, while the players on the bench average 22.
