World Cup Rugby Fever!

South Africa first played Test rugby in 1891, against a British Isles touring team. The Springboks made their Rugby World Cup debut in 1995, when the newly democratic South Africa hosted the tournament and the team, under the captaincy of Francois Pienaar, defeated the All Blacks in the final (15-12), a moment which is remembered as one of the greatest in South Africa’s sporting history. The Springboks also won the Rugby World Cup in France in 2007 against England 15-6, with John Smit as captain.

Coach: Rassie Erasmus (Head coach)

Captain: Siya Kolisi

Current: 4^th (as of 16 September 2019)

Most caps: Victor Matfield (127)

Best result: Champions, 1995 and 2007

Top try scorer: Bryan Habana (67)

The 2019 Rugby World Cup will be the ninth Rugby World Cup and is to be held in Japan from 20 September to 2 November. This will be the first time the tournament is to be held in Asia, and outside the traditional heartland of rugby union.

The twenty teams are divided into four pools of five teams. Each pool will be a single round-robin of ten games, in which each team plays one match against each of the other teams in the same pool. Teams are awarded four league points for a win, two for a draw and none for a defeat by eight or more points. A team scoring four tries in a match is awarded a bonus point, as is a team that loses by fewer than eight points – both bonus points are awarded if both situations apply.

The teams finishing in the top two of each pool advance to the quarter-finals. The top three teams of each pool receive automatic qualification to the 2023 Rugby World Cup.

Tie-breaking criteria

If two or more teams are tied on match points, the following tiebreakers apply:

• The winner of the match between the two teams
• Difference between points scored for and points scored against in all pool matches
• Difference between tries scored for and tries scored against in all pool matches
• Points scored in all pool matches
• Most tries scored in all pool matches
• Official World Rugby Rankings as of 14 October 2019

If three teams were tied on points, the above criteria would be used to decide first place in the pool, and then the criteria would be used again (starting from criterion 1) to decide second place in the pool.

South Africa Fixtures:

South Africa vs New Zealand

21 September @ 11:45

South Africa vs Namibia

28 September @ 11:45

South Africa vs Italy

4 October @ 11:45

South Africa vs Canada

8 October @ 12:45

We wish the Springboks all the best, Bok supporters to the end!

Sources: SA Rugby/Wikipedia