Rankings: Where Springboks stand on eve of Rugby Championship
07/26/2024 05:57 AM
At the top of the rankings, the Springboks’ slender 0.99 advantage over Ireland remains intact after they beat Portugal 64-21 in Bloemfontein, and yet it’s impossible to say whether they should be regarded as Rugby Championship favourites.
In the latest round of Test action, the Springboks weren’t awarded any points because of the large points differential between the teams, and that also applied to New Zealand, Scotland and Argentina who were victorious against much lower-ranked opposition.
The All Blacks (90.37 ranking points) sit third in the standings, 2.74 points behind the Springboks (who have a total points tally of 93.11). Argentina are seventh (81.64) and Australia are ninth (78.96).
How the Springboks shape up in the rankings ahead of the Rugby Championship
The Springboks will face Australia in Brisbane and Perth on 10 and 17 August respectively, before returning to South Africa to play back-to-back matches against New Zealand on Saturday, 31 August in Johannesburg, and 7 September in Cape Town.
They will then take a short trip to Argentina to face Los Pumas in Santiago on Saturday, 21 September, before wrapping up the tournament in Nelspruit against Argentina on Saturday, 28 September.
At the end of the year, the team will travel to the UK for their traditional northern hemisphere tour in November where they will line up against Scotland (10 November), England (16 November) and Wales in Cardiff (23 November).
The year-end tour will be preceded by a one-week training camp in Jersey – one of the largest of the Channel Islands between England and France – where the team will have the luxury of acclimatising to the conditions, while at the same time focusing on their conditioning and preparation for the tour.
The Rugby Championship squad will assemble in Johannesburg on Sunday for a short preparation camp before departing for Australia on Wednesday 31 July.
LATEST SQUAD (in alphabetical order):
Forwards: Ben-Jason Dixon (DHL Stormers), Pieter-Steph du Toit (Toyota Verblitz), Thomas du Toit (Bath), Eben Etzebeth (Hollywoodbets Sharks), Johan Grobbelaar (Vodacom Bulls), Vincent Koch (Hollywoodbets Sharks), Siya Kolisi (captain – Racing 92), Elrigh Louw (Vodacom Bulls), Frans Malherbe (DHL Stormers), Malcolm Marx (Kubota Spears), Bongi Mbonambi (Hollywoodbets Sharks), Salmaan Moerat (DHL Stormers), Ox Nche (Hollywoodbets Sharks), Ruan Nortje (Vodacom Bulls), Kwagga Smith (Shizuoka Blue Revs), RG Snyman (Leinster), Gerhard Steenekamp (Vodacom Bulls), Marco van Staden (Vodacom Bulls), Jan-Hendrik Wessels (Vodacom Bulls).
Backs: Lukhanyo Am (Hollywoodbets Sharks), Kurt-Lee Arendse (Vodacom Bulls), Damian de Allende (Wild Knights), Aphelele Fassi (Hollywoodbets Sharks), Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu (DHL Stormers), Cheslin Kolbe (Suntory Sungoliath), Jesse Kriel (Canon Eagles), Willie le Roux (Vodacom Bulls), Makazole Mapimpi (Hollywoodbets Sharks), Manie Libbok (DHL Stormers), Handre Pollard (Leicester Tigers), Cobus Reinach (Montpellier), Morne van den Berg (Emirates Lions), Grant Williams (Hollywoodbets Sharks).
