Springboks to face Wallabies at a full house

NEWS: The clash between Australia and South Africa in The Rugby Championship opening round is officially sold out.

It is a remarkable statistic – considering the last time the Wallabies played in front of capacity crowd at Lang Park, you’d have to go back to 2013 when they hosted the British and Irish Lions.

The Test will kick off a 2:30pm local time, in what will be a rare afternoon clash in front of over 50,000 strong in attendance.

“The response to this match shows that Australians and Queenslanders are right behind this Wallabies squad,” Rugby Australia CEO Phil Waugh said on Wednesday.

“We are still building under Joe [Schmidt], and we have started the season reasonably well against Wales and Georgia, however the two-time defending World Cup Champions are a new and exciting challenge.

“Hopefully the beautiful Queensland weather on a Saturday afternoon should make for some entertaining day-time footy, and quite a spectacle for the fans in attendance.”

A fortress

Unlike Sydney – a place where Australia had only won once in 12 matches before last month’s hard fought win over Georgia – Brisbane has become a fortress for the home side and a graveyard for the visitors.

The Wallabies have won 10 Tests on the bounce – this includes victories over South Africa and New Zealand on more than one occasion before the Brisbane streak was broken by Eddie Jones’ England side in 2021.

Australia will be back at Lang Park this weekend for the first time in three years – with new head coach Joe Schmidt’s unbeaten side look to restore the ground’s reputation as a fortress.

“The boys are familiar with the ground and good weather up here also plays a part,” said Wallabies lock Lukhan Salakaia-Loto.

“So I guess we win games here, we grow in confidence and it becomes a fortress the more you win.

“So [hopefully] we can keep that going.”

The Test at Lang Park is the first match of the Rugby Championship for both sides as the tournament returns to a full format following the shortened version in 2023 due to the World Cup.

The two sides will meet again a week following the Brisbane clash on August 17 at Perth Stadium as the Springboks will conclude their Australian tour.

The Wallabies – who enjoyed some down time with the Australian cricket team in a friendly net session, will then depart to Argentina for their two-Test tour against Los Pumas as South Africa will return home for their two clashes against New Zealand.

The Wallabies will return back home for their final home Test in September – when they will face the All Blacks in the first Bledisloe Cup Test on Saturday, September 21 at Stadium Australia in Sydney.

The Rugby Championship will conclude the following week in Wellington for the second Bledisloe Cup Test.