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South Africa to face Wales at Twickenham in first match since RWC win

South Africa's and Wales'' players line up prior to a quarter final match of the 2015 Rugby World Cup between South Africa and Wales at Twickenham stadium, southwest London, on October 17, 2015. AFP PHOTO / LIONEL BONAVENTURE RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE, NO USE IN LIVE MATCH TRACKING SERVICES, TO BE USED AS NON-SEQUENTIAL STILLS (Photo credit should read LIONEL BONAVENTURE/AFP via Getty Images)

South Africa and Wales are set to go head-to-head at Twickenham in June this year, marking the first game for the Springboks since winning a record fourth World Cup.

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London will play host to the 42nd meeting between the pair as they compete for the Qatar Airways Cup on June 22 in a double bill that will also see Fiji take on the Barbarians after.

The match will serve as a warm-up ahead for both sides’ July Tests, where the Springboks host Ireland in a greatly-anticipated series and Wales head to Australia to take on the Wallabies.

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With the United Rugby Championship final being played on the same day, either side could have a number of players missing while they remain with their clubs.

The Springboks will be returning to Twickenham for the first time since August 2023, where they subjected the All Blacks to their heaviest-ever defeat in a 35-7 win. It will also be the first time that they will face Wales at the venue since their 2015 World Cup quarter-final meeting, which the Springboks won.

“We are thrilled to return to Twickenham in what will mark our first Test since the Rugby World Cup 2023 final in France,” South Africa head coach Rassie Erasmus said.

“We have very fond memories of the RWC 23 warm-up Test we played against the All Blacks at Twickenham last year. The atmosphere and occasion were truly remarkable, and we are expecting a very similar experience in June.

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“The fact that we’re facing Wales, who we have faced there before in an exhilarating Rugby World Cup 2015 Quarter-final, will bring back plenty of other memories as well.

“We may be playing on foreign territory, but we enjoy fantastic support from the expat community in London and its surrounds, so we are really looking forward to the match.”

Erasmus’ counterpart in June, Warren Gatland, added: “I’m incredibly excited about the fixture list for Wales this summer.

“To have the opportunity for our young squad to test itself against the world champions at a neutral venue is an extremely important experience and something that we will relish. It should also be a great occasion for the fans and something a little bit different for them.

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“We’re also excited for the opportunity we have with our two Tests in Australia in July. We know the Wallabies will be hurting after Rugby World Cup but Australia is a tough place to go and play rugby and we’re expecting a fired up side led by new head coach Joe Schmidt.”

The contest between the Fiji and the Barbarians will follow immediately after the Test match, and will see Ben Youngs return to Twickenham after retiring from international rugby last year. The scrum-half is already one of the confirmed Barbarians players in a side coach by Kiwi Robbie Deans.

General admission tickets go on sale from Friday 23 February at 10am – visit Ticketmaster, Ticketek or RFU to secure your seat.

Each ticket will cover entry for both South Africa vs Wales (K.O. 2pm) and Barbarians vs Fiji (K.O. 5.15pm) on Saturday 22 June, starting from just £55* for Adults and £28* for Under-16s. For a 10% discount on groups of 10 or more, please visit www.eticketing.co.uk/rfu/events.

Hospitality packages are also available now, starting from £179 per person – visit www.twickenhamstadium.com to purchase now. 

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8 Comments
R
Red and White Dynamight 272 days ago

‘weakened squad’ excuses loading

S
Shaylen 273 days ago

Really just a cash grab. Wonder how many SA based players will play. Anyway an SA team might not make the URC final this year. A Welsh team definitely wont. Premiership players and Top 14 players may still be in action as well. Japanese contingent will likely be available and at least 3 of the 4 URC teams so SA will be terribly understrength and will probably shove a 3rd string side out the door with a couple of world cup winners. Wales wont be at full strength either but will likely be closer than SA. Should be a tight contest

J
John 273 days ago

Wales vs RSA usually ends up an entertaining match - double-header as well - I am in…

D
Dan 273 days ago

Desperate for more of that NH cash and an opponent they’ll easily roll over.

Never change SARFU. Bringing back Barnes to ref it too?

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JW 3 hours ago
'Passionate reunion of France and New Zealand shows Fabien Galthie is wrong to rest his stars'

Ok, managed to read the full article..

... New Zealand’s has only 14 and the professional season is all over within four months. In France, club governance is the responsibility of an independent organisation [the Ligue Nationale de Rugby or LNR] which is entirely separate from the host union [the Fédération Française de Rugby or FFR]. Down south New Zealand Rugby runs the provincial and the national game.

That is the National Provincial Championship, a competition of 14 representative union based teams run through the SH international window and only semi professional (paid only during it's running). It is run by NZR and goes for two and a half months.


Super Rugby is a competition involving 12 fully professional teams, of which 5 are of New Zealand eligibility, and another joint administered team of Pacific Island eligibility, with NZR involvement. It was a 18 week competition this year, so involved (randomly chosen I believe) extra return fixtures (2 or 3 home and away derbys), and is run by Super Rugby Pacific's own independent Board (or organisation). The teams may or may not be independently run and owned (note, this does not necessarily mean what you think of as 'privately owned').


LNR was setup by FFR and the French Government to administer the professional game in France. In New Zealand, the Players Association and Super Rugby franchises agreed last month to not setup their own governance structure for professional rugby and re-aligned themselves with New Zealand Rugby. They had been proposing to do something like the English model, I'm not sure how closely that would have been aligned to the French system but it did not sound like it would have French union executive representation on it like the LNR does.

In the shaky isles the professional pyramid tapers to a point with the almighty All Blacks. In France the feeling for country is no more important than the sense of fierce local identity spawned at myriad clubs concentrated in the southwest. Progress is achieved by a nonchalant shrug and the wide sweep of nuanced negotiation, rather than driven from the top by a single intense focus.

Yes, it is pretty much a 'representative' selection system at every level, but these union's are having to fight for their existence against the regime that is NZR, and are currently going through their own battle, just as France has recently as I understand it. A single focus, ala the French game, might not be the best outcome for rugby as a whole.


For pure theatre, it is a wonderful article so far. I prefer 'Ntamack New Zealand 2022' though.

The young Crusader still struggles to solve the puzzle posed by the shorter, more compact tight-heads at this level but he had no problem at all with Colombe.

It was interesting to listen to Manny during an interview on Maul or Nothing, he citied that after a bit of banter with the All Black's he no longer wanted one of their jersey's after the game. One of those talks was an eye to eye chat with Tamaiti Williams, there appear to be nothing between the lock and prop, just a lot of give and take. I thought TW angled in and caused Taylor to pop a few times, and that NZ were lucky to be rewarded.

f you have a forward of 6ft 8ins and 145kg, and he is not at all disturbed by a dysfunctional set-piece, you are in business.

He talked about the clarity of the leadership that helped alleviate any need for anxiety at the predicaments unfolding before him. The same cannot be said for New Zealand when they had 5 minutes left to retrieve a match winning penalty, I don't believe. Did the team in black have much of a plan at any point in the game? I don't really call an autonomous 10 vehicle they had as innovative. I think Razor needs to go back to the dealer and get a new game driver on that one.

Vaa’i is no match for his power on the ground. Even in reverse, Meafou is like a tractor motoring backwards in low gear, trampling all in its path.

Vaa'i actually stops him in his tracks. He gets what could have been a dubious 'tackle' on him?

A high-level offence will often try to identify and exploit big forwards who can be slower to reload, and therefore vulnerable to two quick plays run at them consecutively.

Yes he was just standing on his haunches wasn't he? He mentioned that in the interview, saying that not only did you just get up and back into the line to find the opposition was already set and running at you they also hit harder than anything he'd experienced in the Top 14. He was referring to New Zealands ultra-physical, burst-based Super style of course, which he was more than a bit surprised about. I don't blame him for being caught out.


He still sent the obstruction back to the repair yard though!

What wouldn’t the New Zealand rugby public give to see the likes of Mauvaka and Meafou up front..

Common now Nick, don't go there! Meafou showed his Toulouse shirt and promptly got his citizenship, New Zealand can't have him, surely?!?


As I have said before with these subjects, really enjoy your enthusiasm for their contribution on the field and I'd love to see more of their shapes running out for Vern Cotter and the like styled teams.

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