RWC2023: Springboks return home to begin trophy tour

South Africans will get an opportunity see the 2023 Rugby World Cup trophy when the Springboks rugby team tours the country later this week.

SA Rugby announced on Sunday that the world champions will embark on a four-day Trophy Tour to major regional population centres from Thursday. The team arrives back in South Africa on Tuesday at OR Tambo International Airport and will commence the tour 48 hours later.

This as the national side triumphed over New Zealand in the final match of the tournament, beating the All Blacks 12-11 to lift the coveted Webb Ellis trophy.

The tour will start in Pretoria, Johannesburg and Soweto – concluding at FNB Stadium – on Thursday, 2 November. It will then continue in Cape Town (Friday, 3 November) and Durban (Saturday, 4 November) before concluding in the Eastern Cape (East London) on Sunday, 5 November.

“The locations have been selected for population size in the first three instances and because of the Eastern Cape’s rugby significance in the fourth. Satellite tours to Bloemfontein, Nelson Mandela Bay and other centres will be scheduled for 2024,” SA Rugby said.

The rugby governing body explained that the route for each tour has been prepared in consultation with the respective local authorities and the South African Police Service.