Confirmed: When the Springboks will reassemble

The Springboks have ‘broken up’ after last Sunday’s disappointing defeat to the Wallabies, with some players set to have a period of rest, while others will look to overcome injury niggles. For others, it could be straight back into action for their various club sides.

It’s been confirmed that the Springboks will reassemble at the end of October to begin their preparations for the next leg of the Nations Championship on their end-of-year tour.

It’s likely that Rassie Erasmus will select a slightly smaller squad for the tour, where they will line up against Italy, France, and Ireland before the Finals Weekend in London.

Springboks set sights on redemption

Springbok flanker Paul de Villiers, who earned his fifth Test cap in Perth last Sunday, has said the latest loss has inspired the team even more to come back fighting when the Nations Championship resumes in November.

“We always learn, and of course we like to learn while winning, but sometimes you learn more by losing,” said De Villiers, a former Junior Springbok captain.

“We’re not done. There are still a couple of games coming up in November, and for the Nations Championship we’re going to go all in and make sure we do everything we can to win that trophy. We’re committed to that.”

Reflecting on the match against the Wallabies, De Villiers said: “We’re never happy losing in a Springbok jersey. I thought they put us in scenarios where we conceded a lot of penalties, especially in the first half, and we got into a situation where we had to chase the game.

“That said, we’re obviously proud of the fight in the last couple of minutes. We really worked together to try to win the match.

“Don’t get me wrong, they were good on the day. But if you look at some of the stages we got to, we made a lot of errors, and that kind of shows perhaps why we lost the game.”

end-of-year fixtures

• Saturday 7 November: Italy v Boks
  • Venue: Allianz Stadium, Turin
  • Kick off: 16:00
• Friday 13 November: France v Boks
  • Venue: Stade de France, Paris
  • Kick off: 22:00
• Saturday 21 November: Ireland v Boks
  • Venue: Aviva Stadium, Dublin
  • Kick off: 19:30
• 27–29 November: Finals Weekend
  • Venue: Twickenham Stadium, London
  • Kick off: TBC