Springboks and their hoodoo city
STAT ATTACK: The Springboks are currently in Brisbane preparing for the Australiasian leg of the Rugby Championship.
The reigning World Cup champions have been in fine form and have been dominating the global game.
They secured a historic series victory against the British and Irish Lions and they followed that with back-to-back wins over Argentina in Gqeberha.
The Boks have also held on to their No.1 world ranking, despite not playing a single Test match in 2020.
The next big goal now for the Springboks is to retain the Rugby Championship trophy.
The All Blacks are regarded as the biggest threat to the Boks’ top billing.
However, the Springboks’ record in Brisbane is another major challenge overcome.
*Article continues below…
Brisbane has not been a good hunting ground for the Boks.
Since 1993, South Africa have played 12 Test matches in Brisbane and recorded just one win.
Between 1993 and 2002 the Boks played Tests at Ballymore, Lang Park and the Gabba and failed to record a win.
Since 2003, the Brisbane Tests between Australia and South Africa have been played at the rebranded Lang Park (Suncorp Stadium).
In the 2003 Test, against the Wallabies, the Boks suffered a 9-29 defeat.
Their sole triumph at this venue came 10 years later, in 2013, when the Springboks recorded a 38-12 win over the Wallabies during the Rugby Championship.
Coached by Heyneke Meyer, the Springboks outscored the hosts four tries to nil.
*Article continues below…
The last time the Springboks played in Brisbane was in 2018, where Australia recorded a 23-18 victory.
The defeat was embarrassing for Boks, who were coached by Rassie Erasmus that year.
However, it was nothing compared to their biggest defeat, 0-49 in 2006, during the Tri-Nations.
Coached by Jake White, that loss is still the Boks’ heaviest defeat to the Wallabies.
Despite the setbacks, Springboks followed both those performances with World Cup titles (2007 and 2019).
The Springboks will hope to overcome one of their biggest hoodoo cities when they face the Wallabies at Lang Park on September 18.
A win will give them a major boost ahead of their Test against the All Blacks just a week later.
@rugby365com
