By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
The world champions Springboks will begin their end-of-year tour against Japan in Wembley, the first since they and the Barbarians played out a 31-31 draw in 2016.
The match will be a replay of the famous ‘Miracle of Brighton’, when Japan beat the Springboks 34-32 in the 2015 Rugby World Cup, in one of international rugby’s biggest upsets and a first-ever South African defeat to a Tier 2 side.
The clash on 1 November will be the side’s fourth meeting, after that memorable World Cup encounter and two South Africa wins in 2019.
“We are delighted to be starting off our tour of the Northern Hemisphere with a match against Japan at the iconic Wembley Stadium, especially ahead of a challenging Castle Lager Outgoing Tour which kicks off a week later with the first official Test of the November window against France in Paris,” said Springbok head coach Rassie Erasmus.
“The last time the Boks played at Wembley was in 2016 against the Barbarians, in a tense affair which went down to the wire in a 31-31 drawn match.
“The Brave Blossoms are renowned for playing fast, attacking, high-tempo rugby – which has been prevalent in our last two encounters, before and during the Rugby World Cup in Japan in 2019.
“We have had fantastic support from our fans in the UK for our fixtures in London over the past few years and I am sure this match will be no different, especially being at one of the most famous sporting venues in the world.”
Japan coach Eddie Jones, who won the RWC in 2007 as a technical advisor to the Springboks, reached two more World Cup finals with Australia (2003) and England (2019), relished the prospect of another clash with the world champions.
“The game in Brighton 10 years ago changed rugby in Japan from being a minor sport to a boom sport,”said Jones. “Playing against the Boks is the dream of every young Japanese player.”
Wembley Stadium has hosted 11 rugby matches over the years, starting with England’s 26-13 win over Canada in 1992.
Since the venue was rebuilt and reopened in 2007, four rugby fixtures have been played at Wembley, including two Rugby World Cup matches in 2015 (New Zealand’s 26-16 victory over Argentina, and Ireland beating Romania 44-10), which both drew capacity crowds of just under 90,000 people.