England first up as traditional tests return

The Springboks will play home three-Test series against England (twice), France and Ireland in the six years either side of the 2015 Rugby World Cup as a result of an International Rugby Board decision to return to ‘old-style’ rugby touring.

SA Rugby

The Boks will host England for a three-Test series in June 2012 as rugby makes an eagerly-awaited return to the touring style of the amateur era.

The England series will be the first ‘long’ tour of South Africa by a single nation in 16 years – since the three-test series against New Zealand in 1996 – following the ratification of the IRB’s fixture schedule for the period 2012 to 2019 earlier this week. The only conventional tours South Africa has received in that time were by the British & Irish Lions (1997 and 2009) who tour each of the SANZAR nations every 12 years.

“I think everyone in rugby has been yearning for a return to old style tours and the IRB has now been able to deliver,” said SARU president, Mr Oregan Hoskins. “We experience the drama that a proper tour delivers every time the British & Irish Lions appear and both the tourists and the host nations in the Southern hemisphere were keen to see this change.”

The Springboks’ other three-test series will take place in 2016 (Ireland), 2017 (France) and 2018 (England) with the 2013 and 2014 seasons being taken up with the visit of combinations of Scotland, Wales and Italy. Inbound Tests are not scheduled for the World Cup years of 2015 and 2019.

There has been no change to the format of the Springboks’ end of season tours. They will continue to play a combination of Six Nations teams, playing each country three times in the six years of the IRB Tours Schedule.

The Springboks Inbound (June) Test schedule is:

Tags: England Rugby, French Rugby, IRB, Irish Rugby, Rugby World Cup, Springboks, Traditional Rugby Tours