Boks to open 2024 season with Test against Wales at Twickenham

The Springboks will get their 2024 Test season underway with a one-off Test against Wales at Twickenham on June 22, it was announced by SA Rugby on Wednesday.

The teams will play for the Qatar Airways Cup. It will be the first match for the Boks since they won the 2023 Rugby World Cup in France.

Two weeks later, the Rassie Erasmus-coached side will take on Ireland in back-to-back Tests in Pretoria and Durban before turning their attention to Portugal, who they’ll face for the first time, in a match in Bloemfontein.

Last meeting with Wales

The last time the Springboks faced Wales was in a World Cup warm-up match in Cardiff in August last year, when they registered a record-breaking 52-16 victory – which surpassed their previous best of 22 points (34-12) against the Welsh outfit recorded in 2007.

It is the second year in a row the Boks will play a Test on neutral territory in London after inflicting their heaviest defeat ever on the All Blacks with their 35-7 victory at Twickenham in their final World Cup warm-up match in August last year.

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

“We have very fond memories of the 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.

“Playing against Wales, who we have faced there before in an exhilarating 2015 Rugby World Cup 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, as we saw last year where most of the supporters donned green and gold, so we are really looking forward to the match.”

The Test match against Wales will kick off at 3pm SA time.

Updated Springbok fixtures:

Saturday, 22 June: SA vs Wales (Twickenham, London)
Saturday, 6 July: SA vs Ireland (Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria)
Saturday, 13 July: SA vs Ireland (Kings Park, Durban)
Saturday, 20 July: SA vs Portugal (Toyota Stadium, Bloemfontein)
Saturday, 10 August: Australia vs SA (Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane)
Saturday, 17 August: Australia vs SA (Optus Stadium, Perth)
Saturday, 31 August: SA vs New Zealand (Ellis Park, Johannesburg)
Saturday, 7 September: SA v New Zealand (Cape Town Stadium, Cape Town)
Saturday, 21 September: Argentina v SA (venue TBC)
Saturday, 28 September: SA v Argentina (Mbombela Stadium, Nelspruit)
16/17 November: England v SA (Twickenham, London – date TBC)