The Rugby Paper can reveal that the Springboks will be back in Cardiff on August 19 for what will be the 11th official Test match between the countries in the last seven years.
It will follow home and away matches between England and Wales, as reported in the TRP last month. The first will be in Cardiff on August 5 with the return at Twickenham seven days later.
England will finish their preparations for the World Cup at Twickenham against Fiji while Wales will finish theirs against South Africa.
Their previous meetings under the guise of World Cup warm-ups have never failed to sell-out stadia with a combined capacity of more than 155,000. Even with prices some way below soaring Six Nations’ levels, the RFU and WRU expect to generate around £20m from ticket sales.
The Boks ought to guarantee another handsome pay-day from a crowd of around 50,000 as Wales understandably put the ever-pressing need to make ends meet above the risk of injury from a demanding schedule so close to the biggest tournament of all.
They have bumped into each other so often that fixtures have taken place across five continents over the last ten seasons: Australasia (2011 World Cup in Wellington), America (2018 ‘friendly’ Washington DC), Asia (2019 World Cup in Yokohama) as well as Europe and Africa.
World Cup warm up matches
The latest date with the holders who needed a late Handre Pollard penalty to see Wales off in the semifinal three years ago comes only three weeks before France open their second World Cup as hosts against the All Blacks in Paris.
Fiji’s appearance at Twickenham will be only their fifth at HQ since they first played there in 1989. The fixture will be of major significance for Wales in providing a clearer idea of what awaits them in Bordeaux from opponents who knocked them out at the pool stage of the 2007 World Cup in Nantes.
An official announcement of the fixtures for next August has yet to be made. The Rugby Paper understands they are as follows:
August 5, 2023: Wales v England, Cardiff.
August 12, 2023: England v Wales, Twickenham.
August 19, 2023: Wales v South Africa, Cardiff.
August 26, 2023: England v Fiji, Twickenham.
OPENING RWC FIXTURES: September 9, 2023: England v Argentina, Marseille; Ireland v Romania, Bordeaux.
September 10, 2023: Wales v Fiji, Bordeaux; Scotland v South Africa, Marseille.
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