Welcome to watch
Australia v South Africa
Welcome to watch
Match scheduled:
Tri Nations - Brisbane, 24 July 2010, 10:00 GMT, 20:00 Local
Australia v South Africa
South Africa travel to Brisbane to face Australia on Saturday and for the third time in as many weeks the Springboks are looking to overturn the weight of history.
The Suncorp Stadium clash comes hot on the heels of their back-to-back losses to the All Blacks at Eden Park and Westpac Stadium, grounds at which, like Suncorp, the Boks have a losing record.
The Springboks hold the historical advantage over the Wallabies with 43 victories to their rivals' 27 since their first meeting in Sydney in 1921 - won 25-10 by the visitors - but they have not won in Brisbane since 1971.
Of the four Brisbane venues previously used for Tests, Subiaco (or Lang Park), Ballymore, the Brisbane Exhibition Ground and the Woollongabba Ground, which is better known as the city's venue for cricket, South Africa have only won at the Exhibition Ground.
Last month “the President’s Council of the South African Rugby Union (Saru) said the King Protea - used by all the other national teams - will now appear over the heart on the (rugby) jerseys. A small protea already appears over the springbok on the jersey, but the change will move the protea to what is seen as a place of pride. The lithe antelope that has symbolised the team for 102 years will move the right side of the jersey, in a compromise.”
Just this year, South African rugby named the team’s first black coach, Peter de Villiers. In a nation that’s 80% black or mixed race, more than half the South African rugby team is white.
