In a relatively “Ho-Hum” year, the Boks will end their 12 game season with a tour to Wales, Scotland and France in November, while the venues for the first two Springbok Tests of 2013 have been swapped.
The opening fixture of a quirky quadrangular between the Boks, their RWC 2015 opponents Scotland and Samoa, and Italy, will now take place at Kings Park in Durban on Saturday, June 8. And the second round will be played at the Mbombela Stadium in Nelspruit – the first-ever test at that venue.
This change in venue has been made due to a clash with the Top Gear motoring event in Durban on June 15 and 16.
They will play their away fixtures of the 4 Naions in Mendoza on August 24 (against Argentina), Brisbane on September 7 (against Australia) and Auckland on September 14 (against New Zealand).
In November, the Boks return to France for the first time since 2009, with the other games being against Wales and Scotland … so no test against the Poms …
With SARU having taken ownership of the Tests (the unions used to pay for the right to host a Test and then host it), the game against the Aussies in September might very well be the last ever Test at Newlands … WPRU might be a little slow out the blocks, but we can’t see SARU letting a world class venue like the Cape Town Stadium sit idle …
FIXTURES
Incoming Tour:
• Saturday, June 8 (Kings Park, Durban): Scotland v Samoa; Springboks v Italy
• Saturday, June 15 (Mbombela Stadium, Nelspruit): Samoa v Italy; Springboks v Scotland
• Saturday, June 22 (Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria): Team 3 v Team 4 ; Team 1 v Team 2
Rugby Championship:
• Saturday, August 17 (Free State Stadium, Bloemfontein): Springboks v Argentina
• Saturday, August 24 (Estadio Malvinas Argentinas, Mendoza): Argentina v Springboks
• Saturday, September 7 (Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane): Australia v Springboks
• Saturday, September 14 (Eden Park, Auckland): New Zealand v Springboks
• Saturday, September 28 (Newlands, Cape Town): Springboks v Australia
• Saturday, October 5 (Ellis Park, Johannesburg): Springboks v New Zealand
End of Year Tour:
• Saturday, November 9 (Millennium Stadium, Cardiff): Wales v Springboks
• Saturday, November 16 (Murrayfield, Edinburgh): Scotland v Springboks
• Saturday, November 23 (Venue TBC): France v Springboks
Tank, what to do about Newlands then?
I want it retained, in a similar fashion to Villagers…so office blocks and small stadia surrounding the existing field (after breaking down the old, outdated concrete stands). That would keep the history intact, allow for certain WP and schools games to be played there, and provide business and real estate incentive, resulting in continued cash to WPRU – and thus to their foundation, the Clubs.
Sure, the old farts owning the suites would need to be appeased and will probably not give way, but in an ideal world, Newlands needs to move with the times.
Thoughts?
It’s the big conundrum Brian … I also thought it would make sense to keep the land, develop it, and use the revenues to run WPRU from the new headquarters … But chatting to Morne du Plessis, he reckons there is no way a union could afford to take that risk, and wait that long for the cash, especially given the high costs of the new stadium. So in all liklihood, they will sell the land and use the money to start afresh. I am sure a musuem of sorts will be kept, but I would suggest that there is very little chance of the field remaining. The land is just too valuable