Springboks hope All Black warm-up match will be ‘final building block’ before Rugby World Cup

Cape Town- The Springboks will meet the All Blacks at Twickenham in England in a Rugby World Cup warm-up match on Friday, August 25 next year.

The clash between the rivals - only their second one at Twickenham - will take place two weeks before the showpiece kicks off in France.

The only other time the Boks have faced the All Blacks at Twickenham was in 2015 when New Zealand won their tight World Cup semi-final clash 20-18 before going on to lift the Webb Ellis Cup a week later.

The world champions will also go up against Wales at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff on Saturday, August 19.

The Springboks will battle it out with Scotland (September 10, in Marseille), Romania (September 17, in Bordeaux), Ireland (September 23, in Paris) and Tonga (October 1, in Marseille) in their Pool B fixtures in France.

“The Springboks and All Blacks share one of the greatest rivalries in rugby, and to face them at Twickenham will be an exciting experience for the players and our fans,” said SA director of rugby Rassie Erasmus.

“The match will take place shortly before we kick off our World Cup campaign, and both this encounter and the Test against Wales will be vital for us to measure ourselves before the competition and to put the final building in blocks in place so that we can enter the showpiece in the desired form."

Bok coach Jacques Nienaber added: “We are excited to play this vital fixture against one of our main arch-rivals before the Rugby World Cup at the iconic Twickenham Stadium. There is a large contingent of passionate expats and Springbok supporters in London, and we have no doubt they will come out and support us in what we know will be a massive occasion for both teams before the World Cup.”

All Black head coach Ian Foster said: “This match will form an important part of our preparations for Rugby World Cup. Matches against the Springboks are always hard-fought and we are expecting nothing less than a titanic battle on this unique occasion.”

Tickets will go on sale from 11am (SA Time) on Thursday via Ticketmaster and the RFU.

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