Japan coach Eddie Jones is confident that his side can secure an iconic win against the Springboks on Saturday.
Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus had high hopes for the team’s five-week tour to the UK and Europe as he departed for London with a small group of players and management on Sunday ahead of next weekend’s opening Test against Japan.
The DHL Stormers, Vodacom Bulls and Lions finished the first block of the Vodacom United Rugby Championship in the top eight on the log, while the Hollywoodbets Sharks finally won their first game of the season as the competition takes a break for the November Tests.
While the DHL Stormers, Vodacom Bulls, and Lions will look to kick on from their victories in the Vodacom United Rugby Championship last weekend to build on their campaigns, the Hollywoodbets Sharks will be desperate to end their winless streak in round five of the cross-hemisphere competition.
Former Junior Springbok prop and captain Zachary Porthen earned his first Springbok call-up as national coach Rassie Erasmus named a quality 36-man squad for the Castle Lager Outgoing Tour in November, which features four players who will return to the Bok set-up for the first time this season.
The DHL Stormers are still unbeaten in the Vodacom United Rugby Championship, while the Vodacom Bulls bounced back in Ireland and the Lions recorded their first victory of the season in Johannesburg, but the Hollywoodbets Sharks are still searching for that elusive maiden win.
Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry, an alternating quadrennial tour between South Africa and New Zealand, marking a defining new chapter for the intense rivalry between the sport’s most successful and storied nations.
The big guns have been brought out for the first home game of the Vodacom United Rugby Championship as the Hollywoodbets Sharks look to unleash powerfully and emphatically against Ulster at Hollywoodbets Kings Park on Saturday.
The DHL Stormers will not only try to retain their spot at the top of the Vodacom United Rugby Championship log this weekend, but also continue winning streak against Zebre Parma, the Vodacom Bulls will be looking to bounce back in tough Galway, while the Hollywoodbets Sharks and Lions will aim for their first victories of season as they are back on home soil.
All four domestic Vodacom United Rugby Championship teams face a stern test in their round-three clashes overseas this weekend, where log leaders, the Vodacom Bulls and DHL Stormers will do their best to stretch their unbeaten runs in the competition.