Save the dates, South Africa. The reigning world champions have confirmed the dates for their arrival home and victory tour.
Siya Kolisi and his men made history on Saturday night when they beat fierce rivals New Zealand in Paris to win a record fourth Rugby World Cup title.
In a statement on Sunday, SA Rugby announced that the Springboks will arrive back in South Africa when they land at OR Tambo International at 10.55 am on Tuesday morning.
The tour, SA Rugby continued, will start in Pretoria, Johannesburg and Soweto on Thursday. On Friday, they will move on to Cape Town, followed by Durban on Saturday, before concluding the tour in East London on Sunday.
Pretoria, Johannesburg, Cape Town, and Durban have been selected due to the size of their population, while East London has been chosen for its significance for the sport.
SA Rugby added that satellite tours to Bloemfontein and Gqeberha, and other smaller towns and cities, will take place in 2024. This was the case after 2019, but tours in 2020 had to be cancelled due to Covid-19.
They added that the routes for the tours will be posted on their website and social media channels in the coming days.
Before the Springboks depart France, though, they have the small matter of the World Rugby Awards to deal with. Eben Etzebeth is up for player of the year, while Manie Libbok has been nominated for the breakthrough player of the year.
After his last match in charge, Jacques Nienaber has been nominated for international coach of the year.
IOL Sport