Why the Boks’ end-of-year-tour is a dress rehearsal for 2023 Rugby World Cup

The Springboks‘ European end-of-year-tour next month is set to be a dress rehearsal for what is expected to be an extremely tough 2023 Rugby World Cup campaign in France.

The Boks are scheduled to play Ireland, France, Italy and England on consecutive weekends in November and will need to be at their very best if they want to claim a clean sweep.

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The Boks started the year as the number one ranked team in the world, but after both Ireland and France enjoyed strong Six Nations campaigns and mid-year tours, they moved ahead of the Boks on the log.

Due to the Boks starting their international season with very inconsistent form, which saw them win three and lose three of their first six games, they were unable to reclaim their top ranking.

They, however, ended their Rugby Championship campaign in style with three wins on the bounce, with two coming away against the Wallabies and Argentina, before finishing with a home win over the Pumas.

They will thus head into the end-of-year-tour with plenty of confidence, but face their biggest Tests first up, with a clash against top-ranked Ireland at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin, followed by second placed France at the Stade Velodrome in Marseille.

World Cup

At next year’s World Cup, the Boks find themselves in a tricky pool B along with Ireland and Scotland, while France are in pool A along with the All Blacks.

With the top side in pool A taking on the runner-up in pool B, and pool B winner up against the runner-up in pool A in the quarterfinals, it means that two of the current top four teams in the world will be knocked out before the semifinal stage.

The Boks clearly have the tougher pool as along with top-ranked Ireland they have to deal with a tricky challenge against Scotland who are currently ranked sixth in the world.

Their other two pool opponents, Tonga and Romania, don’t pose any threat and should be easy wins for the Boks.

In pool A, France and the All Blacks should easily cruise through to the knockouts as they have Italy, Uruguay and Namibia as their other opposition in the pool.

So if the Boks can get through their pool, they could come up against France on their home turf, or face their biggest rivals the All Blacks.

End-of-year-tour

That’s what makes this end-of-year-tour so important, as they couldn’t have asked for better preparation for next year’s World Cup.

Facing Ireland in Dublin will be perfect preparation for their pool match against them, while facing France in Marseille will give them a good indication of what to expect against the hosts should they meet in the quarterfinals, or further down the line.

The Boks’ other opponents on their end-of-year-tour will also be good preparation for their World Cup campaign.

Taking on Italy in Genoa in their first match of the tour should give the Boks a great opportunity to test their depth and back some of their fringe players against a side that they should beat comfortably.

The Boks should play their strongest possible line-up in their opening two matches, to start building some good cohesion in the team, and ending off their tour against England at Twickenham should see them revert back to their strongest side.

England beat the Boks on last year’s tour at Twickenham, and the Boks could meet them at some stage in next year’s World Cup knockouts, so it will be an opportunity for them to gain some revenge and prepare for a possible meeting with them as well.

Experimentation

Over the past nine internationals that the Boks played this year, they experimented in a number of positions, gave plenty of players a run and had to deal with a few injury crises to boot.

So they should have no need to use the end-of-year-tour as a testing ground as they should have a good idea of who they are going to back as their starting 23 (if fit) at next year’s World Cup.

The SA A team will also be touring alongside the Boks, and will be facing Munster and Bristol in midweek games, so if there are players the Boks still want to look at that will be the perfect opportunity for them, along with the Test against Italy.

But Ireland, France and England should see the Boks’ strongest possible side in action, as they build up to a big 2023.