The Springboks will start their 2023 season in front of a packed house at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria on Saturday, 8 July after SA Rugby and hosts, the Blue Bulls Co (BBCo.), announced on Friday that all tickets for the opening Test in the Castle Lager Rugby Championship against Australia have been sold out.

The Springboks play two home Tests this year due to the abbreviated version of the Castle Lager Rugby Championship. After the Wallaby Test, they will travel to New Zealand to face the All Blacks in Auckland on Saturday, 15 July.

The other home match will be against Argentina at Emirates Airline Park in Johannesburg on Saturday, 29 July, with tickets for this encounter going on sale soon.

The Boks will also play Rugby World Cup warm-up fixtures against Argentina in Buenos Aires (Saturday, 5 August), Wales in Cardiff (Saturday, 19 August), and New Zealand (Friday, 25 August) before making their journey to France for the World Cup where they will line up against Scotland, Romania, Ireland, and Tonga in the pool stages.

“To see the ‘sold out’ signs go up two months before the Test, is very exciting for SA Rugby and the Springboks, and we are grateful to see the support for the team as we start our preparations for the Rugby World Cup in France later this year,” said SA Rugby CEO Rian Oberholzer.

“This shows there is excitement in the country and support for the Springboks ahead of the southern hemisphere showpiece and the Rugby World Cup, and we’d like to thank our faithful supporters for uniting behind the team.

“Our slogan for the last few years has been#StrongerTogether, and this excitement ahead of the international season certainly sets the tone for the rest of the year.”

Oberholzer reminded fans not to purchase match tickets from resellers and to only use official ticket outlets as there is no guarantee of actually gaining entry into the match venue.Limited hospitality packages are still available at: https://tinyurl.com/2up8ane9.