World champions South Africa to host Wales in July

Wednesday, 9 February 2022 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

JOHANNESBURG, AFP: World champions South Africa will host Wales for a three-Test series in July, the national rugby body announced yesterday.

Pretoria (2 July), Bloemfontein (9 July) and Cape Town (16 July) will host the first matches of the season for the three-time Rugby World Cup winners.

The teams met in Cardiff last November with the Springboks winning 23-18 at the start of a tour to Britain in which they also defeated Scotland before losing narrowly to England.

South Africa edged Wales 19-16 in a 2019 Rugby World Cup semi-final dominated by penalty kicks before outplaying England in the final to become champions in Japan.

The countries have met 37 times since 1906 with the Springboks winning 30 Tests, losing six and drawing one, scoring 945 points and conceding 586.

After the Wales series, South Africa host New Zealand twice, play at home and away against Argentina and visit Australia for two matches in the Rugby Championship between 6 August and 24 September.

The Springboks’ season will conclude with a tour of Europe during November. The itinerary includes a match against England, with the rest of the schedule still to be released.