There is some exciting Test rugby on the horizon as the November tours get underway in earnest, and which of course will see the Springboks take on Japan in their opening game on the end-of-year tour.
Australia and the All Blacks are also in action with blockbuster clashes against England and Ireland respectively.
HERE ARE ALL THE TEST RUGBY FIXTURES TO LOOK FORWARD TO:
Saturday, 1 November
England v Australia: Twickenham, London, 17:10 (SA kick off time)
South Africa v Japan: Wembley Stadium, London, 18:10
Scotland v USA: Murrayfield, Edinburgh, 19:40
Ireland v New Zealand: Soldier Field, Chicago, 23:00
South Africa set sights on Japan
With Japan suffering only a four-point defeat against the Wallabies this past weekend in Tokyo, where Australia registered a narrow 19-15 victory, assistant coach Jerry Flannery was wary of the threat the Japanese posed going into this weekend’s encounter.
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“Japan showed resilience in the first half despite the yellow cards, and they showed how well they can defend against one of the best sides,” said Flannery.
“Australia scored six tries against us in the first game in the Rugby Championship, so we are aware that Japan are not just a really good attacking side, they can defend really well too, and in the last quarter, they came back into the game, and they would be disappointed that they didn’t win.”
Flannery also expected them to enter the match with the mindset that they can create an upset against the Springboks: “I’m expecting that Eddie (Jones, Japan’s head coach) will be building up his team all week and they’ll believe that they can win and rewrite history by beating the Boks at Wembley, so we are very aware of their mindset coming into this game, meaning we need to ensure that we are as well prepared as we can be.”
