In less than 50 days’, the Nations Championship makes its debut, with the 12 strongest teams in international rugby lining up in two groups representing the northern and southern hemispheres in a set of matches that could have a huge impact on the World Rugby rankings.
The Southern Series of fixtures in July sees the Six Nations unions representing the northern hemisphere travel south of the equator to face the powerhouse southern hemisphere nations.
Kicking off on Saturday 4 July, the Nations Championship opens with a blockbuster set of three consecutive ‘Super Saturdays’, giving fans back-to-back fixtures each match day, featuring the best players and teams in the international game.
The Springboks’ first match is against England at Ellis Park in Johannesburg on Saturday, 4 July, with Tests against Scotland in Pretoria (11 July) and Wales in Durban (18 July) round off the first leg of the competition. Tickets are available exclusively HERE.
That is just the start of a jampacked schedule of fixtures for the Springboks this season, and the good news is that South Africa have a handy buffer at the top of the rankings to build on.
UPDATED WORLD RUGBY RANKINGS
| Rank | Country | Points |
| 1 | South Africa | 93.94 |
| 2 | New Zealand | 90.33 |
| 3 | Ireland | 89.07 |
| 4 | France | 87.03 |
| 5 | Argentina | 84.97 |
| 6 | England | 83.91 |
| 7 | Scotland | 82.90 |
| 8 | Australia | 81.53 |
| 9 | Fiji | 81.14 |
| 10 | Italy | 79.64 |
Busy season ahead
After the July Tests, the Springboks will then meet Argentina in Buenos Aires (8 August) and the All Blacks in four Tests in the Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry series in August and September.
An away Test against the Wallabies in Australia (27 September) follows, before the second leg of the Nations Championship kicks off in Europe, with matches against Italy (7 November), France (13 November) and Ireland (21 November), ahead of the Finals Weekend in London (27 to 29 November).
