Fans of the oval ball will be licking their lips as the international season steps up a gear this weekend with a number of blockbuster Tests around the world.
Three in particular stand out to us at The South African website’s rugby HQ.
On Saturday, 6 July, the All Blacks will host England in what will be New Zealand’s first Test since losing the 2023 Rugby World Cup final against the Springboks.
It will also be Scott Robertson’s first Test in charge of the All Blacks.
England, meanwhile, are coming off a 52-17 win over Japan last weekend.
The Test will take place at the Forsyth Barr Stadium in Dunedin and will kick off at 09:05 (SA time).
Following that, Australia will welcome Wales to the Sydney Football Stadium for an 11:45 (SA time) clash.
Wales are coming off a heavy 41-13 loss against the Springboks at Twickenham in London, while the Wallabies also have a new coach in Joe Schmidt.
Springboks vs Ireland
Finally, it’s the big one!
The No 1-ranked Springboks will host the world’s second-best side, Ireland, in the first of two Tests at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria.
Kick-off is scheduled for 17:00.
The sides last met at last year’s World Cup when Ireland emerged victorious – only for the Springboks to go on to lift the Webb Ellis Cup.
Ireland have won eight of the last 12 Tests between the two nations, but have only ever won once in South Africa in 118 years – and have suffered their biggest ever defeat in South Africa in Pretoria!
The match will be screened live on SuperSport – and delayed on SABC at 20:30.
Be sure to bookmark The South African website’s dedicated rugby page for all the latest news, fixtures and results
NEW ZEALAND V ENGLAND
TEAMS
New Zealand
15 Stephen Perofeta, 14 Sevu Reece, 13 Rieko Ioane, 12 Jordie Barrett, 11 Mark Tele’a, 10 Damian McKenzie, 9 TJ Perenara, 8 Ardie Savea, 7 Dalton Papali’i, 6 Samipeni Finau, 5 Patrick Tuipulotu, 4 Scott Barrett (captain), 3 Tyrel Lomax, 2 Codie Taylor, 1 Ethan De Groot
Replacements: 16 Asafo Aumua, 17 Ofa Tu’ungafasi, 18 Fletcher Newell, 19 Tupou Vaa’i, 20 Luke Jacobson, 21 Finlay Christie, 22 Anton Lienert-Brown, 23 Beauden Barrett
England
15 George Furbank, 14 Immanuel Feyi-Waboso, 13 Henry Slade, 12 Ollie Lawrence, 11 Tommy Freeman, 10 Marcus Smith, 9 Alex Mitchell, 8 Ben Earl, 7 Sam Underhill, 6 Chandler Cunningham-South, 5 George Martin, 4 Maro Itoje, 3 Will Stuart, 2 Jamie George (captain), 1 Joe Marler
Replacements: 16 Theo Dan, 17 Fin Baxter, 18 Dan Cole, 19 Alex Coles, 20 Tom Curry, 21 Ben Spencer, 22 Fin Smith, 23 Ollie Sleightholme
Prediction: New Zealand by 10 points
Venue: Otago Stadium, Dunedin
Kick-off: 09.05 (SA time)
Referee: Nika Amashukeli (Georgia)
Assistant referees: Nic Berry (Australia), Jordan Way (Australia)
TMO: Eric Gauzins (France)
AUSTRALIA V WALES
TEAMS
Australia
15 Tom Wright, 14 Andrew Kellaway, 13 Josh Flook, 12 Hunter Paisami, 11 Filipo Daugunu, 10 Noah Lolesio, 9 Jake Gordon, 8 Rob Valetini, 7 Fraser McReight, 6 Liam Wright (captain), 5 Lukhan Salakaia-Loto, 4 Jeremy Williams, 3 Taniela Tupou, 2 Matt Faessler, 1 James Slipper
Replacements: 16 Billy Pollard, 17 Issac Kailea, 18 Allan Alaalatoa, 19 Angus Blyth, 20 Charlie Cale, 21 Tate McDermott, 22 Tom Lynagh, 23 Dylan Pietsch
Wales
15 Liam Williams, 14 Josh Hathaway, 13 Owen Watkin, 12 Mason Grady, 11 Rio Dyer, 10 Ben Thomas, 9 Ellis Bevan, 8 Aaron Wainwright, 7 Tommy Reffell, 6 Taine Plumtree, 5 Dafydd Jenkins, 4 Christ Tshiunza, 3 Archie Griffin, 2 Dewi Lake (captain), 1 Gareth Thomas
Replacements: 16 Evan Lloyd, 17 Kemsley Mathias, 18 Harri O’Connor, 19 Cory Hill, 20 James Botham, 21 Kieran Hardy, 22 Sam Costelow, 23 Nick Tompkins
Prediction: Australia by 12 points
Venue: Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney
Kick-off: 11.45 (SA time)
Referee: Pierre Brousset
Assistant referees: Ben O’Keeffe, James Doleman
TMO: Marius Jonker
SOUTH AFRICA V IRELAND
TEAMS
South Africa
15 Willie le Roux, 14 Cheslin Kolbe, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Kurt-Lee Arendse, 10 Handré Pollard, 9 Faf de Klerk, 8 Kwagga Smith, 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 6 Siya Kolisi (captain), 5 Franco Mostert, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Frans Malherbe, 2 Bongi Mbonambi, 1 Ox Nche.
Replacements: 16 Malcolm Marx, 17 Gerhard Steenekamp, 18 Vincent Koch, 19 Salmaan Moerat, 20 RG Snyman, 21 Marco van Staden, 22 Grant Williams, 23 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu
Ireland
15 Jamie Osborne, 14 Calvin Nash, 13 Robbie Henshaw, 12 Bundee Aki, 11 James Lowe, 10 Jack Crowley, 9 Craig Casey, 8 Caelan Doris, 7 Josh van der Flier, 6 Peter O’Mahony (captain), 5 Tadhg Beirne, 4 Joe McCarthy, 3 Tadhg Furlong, 2 Dan Sheehan, 1 Andrew Porter
Replacements: 16 Ronan Kelleher, 17 Cian Healy, 18 Finlay Bealham, 19 James Ryan, 20 Ryan Baird, 21 Conor Murray, 22 Ciaran Frawley, 23 Garry Ringrose
Prediction: South Africa by 6 points
Venue: Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria
Kick-off: 17.00
Referee: Luke Pearce (England)
Assistant referees: Karl Dickson (England), Mike Adamson (Scotland)
TMO: Ben Whitehouse (Wales)
ALL WEEKEND FIXTURES
All times SA
FRIDAY, 5 JULY
Samoa 33-25 Italy
Georgia 12-21 Fiji
SATURDAY, 6 JULY
USA vs Romania – 02:00
New Zealand vs England – 09:05
Japan vs Maori All Blacks – 11:30
Australia vs Wales – 11:45
South Africa vs Ireland – 17:00
Argentina vs France – 21:00
Chile vs Hong Kong – 22:00
Canada vs Scotland – 23:00
