The Boks play their last game of 2024 in Cardiff on Saturday. Picture: David Rogers/Getty Images
The Springboks will play their 13th Test of the year against Wales in Cardiff on Saturday, looking to end their season in the same way they started it, with a resounding thumping of Warren Gatland’s side.
Towards the end of June, the Boks scored a 41-13 win against this very Wales team to kick-start their season and they’re expected to win big again on Saturday, to inflict a 12th consecutive defeat on Gatland and Co, which will in all likelihood also see the end of the New Zealander’s second stint in charge of the Welsh.
The Boks go into Saturday’s Test on the back of two solid wins against Scotland and England, and looking to record their first unbeaten run on a Northern Hemisphere trip for the first time since 2013, while Wales suffered a record defeat by Australia last week, among other defeats this November and stretching back to the 2023 World Cup in France.
What a season it has been for Rassie Erasmus and his charges. Their only two losses – against Ireland in Durban and Argentina in Santiago – were by a point in each match, they captured the Rugby Championship in style, with back-to-back wins against Australia away and New Zealand at home, while they smashed Argentina in Mbombela.
Along the way, Eben Etzebeth became Bok rugby’s most-capped Test player, going past Victor Matfield’s record of 127 Tests, while by the end of this weekend the Boks would have used 52 players this season, building depth at national level several Test teams can only dream of.
This week, former Wallabies legend David Campese was quoted as saying “the Boks are so good they could put out five teams and hold their own against anyone”. While that may be a stretch, Erasmus could possibly field three different teams and the Boks would still produce rugby good enough to win, against anyone.
Sports teams often suffer a dip in form after reaching great heights, such as winning a World Cup, as the Boks did last year, but Erasmus and his team have instead grown stronger and with more depth.
In Cardiff on Saturday, they need to win big, end Gatland’s time in charge of Wales, and go into the Test off-season on top of the rankings and with the rest of the world wondering just how anyone will stop them come 2027.
Saturday’s Test kicks off at 7.40pm.
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