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Cape Town - The Springboks will open their Rugby World Cup 2015 campaign against the top qualifier from Asia at Brighton Community Stadium in the southern coastal city of Brighton, the International Rugby Board announced on Thursday.
The announcement of the pool draw was made at a function at Twickenham in London. The Springboks will play their pool matches in Brighton, Birmingham, Newcastle and London. South Africa are in Pool B alongside Scotland, Samoa, Asia 1 and Americas 2.
There are 871 days from today until the Springboks start their quest to win the Webb Ellis Cup for an unprecedented third time in England in 2015, on Saturday, September 19, at the home of Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club.
Following their opening match, the Springboks will move north, to the central English city of Birmingham, where they will face Samoa at Villa Park, home of the English Premiership soccer team Aston Villa, on Saturday, September 26.
The Springboks’ third match, against Scotland on Saturday, October 3, is scheduled for the historic St James’ Park in Newcastle in the far north east of England, where Newcastle United play their Premiership home matches.
For their final pool match, the Springboks will move from St James’ Park, in use since 1880, to the brand new Olympic Stadium in London, built specifically for the Olympic Games last year. This match, against the second qualifier from the Americas, will take place on Wednesday, October 7.
“The Springboks have a proud record at Rugby World Cups and I’m confident they will be there again at the business end of the tournament in 2015, but we have to ensure our planning is perfect for this tournament if we are going to do our country proud over in England.” said SARU CEO Jurie Roux.
“It’s great to know this far in advance what our schedule for the pool matches will look like, as it provides our logistics team with ample opportunity to ensure the Springboks stay in the best hotels, get the best training facilities and come up with a travel schedule what will benefit the team..
Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer said: “Playing in parts of the UK that we normally don’t see, such as Brighton, Birmingham and Newcastle, is exciting.
“In the end however, the games still have to be won and it doesn’t matter where we play, we have to ensure we get more points on the scoreboard than our opponents.
“The Rugby World Cup is still more than two years away and a lot of rugby will be played between now and then, but we now have an opportunity to put all our planning into place for that tournament.”
The four quarter-finals are scheduled for Twickenham in London and the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff on the weekend of October 17/18. Both semi-finals will be hosted by Twickenham (October 24/25), while the third-place playoff will take place on October 30 at the Olympic Stadium.
The Rugby World Cup final will be at Twickenham on Saturday, October 31.
Fixtures announced on Thursday for the 2015 Rugby World Cup in England and Wales:
Friday, September 18 (Pool A) England v Oceania 1 - Twickenham Stadium
Saturday, September 19 (Pool C) Tonga v Europe 1 - Kingsholm Stadium
Saturday, September 19 (Pool D) Ireland v Americas 1 - Millennium Stadium
Saturday, September 19 (Pool B) South Africa v Asia 1 - Brighton Community Stadium
Saturday, September 19 (Pool D) France v Italy - Twickenham Stadium
Sunday, September 20 (Pool B) Samoa v Americas 2 - Brighton Community Stadium
Sunday, September 20 (Pool C) New Zealand v Argentina - Wembley Stadium
Sunday, September 20 (Pool A) Wales v Playoff Winner - Millennium Stadium
Wednesday, September 23 (Pool B) Scotland v Asia 1 - Kingsholm Stadium
Wednesday, September 23 (Pool A) Australia v Oceania 1 - Millennium Stadium
Wednesday, September 23 (Pool D) France v Europe 2 - Olympic Stadium
Thursday, September 24 (Pool C) New Zealand v Africa 1 - Olympic Stadium
Friday, September 25 (Pool C) Argentina v Europe 1 - Kingsholm Stadium
Saturday, September 26 (Pool D) Italy v Americas 1 - Elland Road
Saturday, September 26 (Pool B) South Africa v Samoa - Villa Park
Saturday, September 26 (Pool A) England v Wales - Twickenham Stadium
Sunday, September 27 (Pool A) Australia v Playoff Winner - Villa Park
Sunday, September 27 (Pool B) Scotland v Americas 2 - Elland Road
Sunday, September 27 (Pool D) Ireland v Europe 2 - Wembley Stadium
Tuesday, September 29 (Pool C) Tonga v Africa 1 - Sandy Park
Thursday, October 1 (Pool D) France v Americas 1 - stadiummk
Thursday, October 1 (Pool A) Wales v Oceania 1 - Millennium Stadium
Friday, October 2 (Pool C) New Zealand v Europe 1 - Millennium Stadium
Saturday, October 3 (Pool B) Samoa v Asia 1 - stadiummk
Saturday, October 3 (Pool B) South Africa v Scotland - St James' Park
Saturday, October 3 (Pool A) England v Australia - Twickenham Stadium
Sunday, October 4 (Pool C) Argentina v Tonga - Leicester City Stadium
Sunday, October 4 (Pool D) Ireland v Italy - Olympic Stadium
Tuesday, October 6 (Pool D) Americas 1 v Europe 2 - Leicester City Stadium
Tuesday, October 6 (Pool A) Oceania 1 v Playoff Winner - stadiummk
Wednesday, October 7 (Pool C) Africa 1 v Europe 1 - Sandy Park
Wednesday, October 7 (Pool B) South Africa v Americas 2 - Olympic Stadium
Friday, October 9 (Pool C) New Zealand v Tonga - St James' Park
Saturday, October 10 (Pool B) Samoa v Scotland - St James' Park
Saturday, October 10 (Pool A) Australia v Wales - Twickenham Stadium
Saturday, October 10 (Pool A) England v Playoff Winner - Manchester City Stadium
Sunday, October 11 (Pool D) Italy v Europe 2 - Sandy Park
Sunday, October 11 (Pool B) Americas 2 v Asia 1 - Kingsholm Stadium
Sunday, October 11 (Pool C) Argentina v Africa 1 - Leicester City Stadium
Sunday, October 11 (Pool D) France v Ireland - Millennium Stadium
Saturday, October 17 Quarter-Final 1: Winner Pool C v Runner-Up Pool D - Millennium Stadium
Saturday, October 17 Quarter-Final 2: Winner Pool B v Runner-Up Pool A - Twickenham Stadium
Sunday, October 18 Quarter-Final 3: Winner Pool D v Runner-Up Pool C - Millennium Stadium
Sunday, October 18 Quarter-Final 4: Winner Pool A v Runner-Up Pool B - Twickenham Stadium
Saturday, October 24 Semi-Final 1: Winner QF1 v W QF2 - Twickenham Stadium
Sunday, October 25 Semi-Final 2: Winner QF3 v W QF4 - Twickenham Stadium
Friday, October 30 Bronze Final - Olympic Stadium
Saturday, October 31 Final - Twickenham Stadium
The announcement of the pool draw was made at a function at Twickenham in London. The Springboks will play their pool matches in Brighton, Birmingham, Newcastle and London. South Africa are in Pool B alongside Scotland, Samoa, Asia 1 and Americas 2.
There are 871 days from today until the Springboks start their quest to win the Webb Ellis Cup for an unprecedented third time in England in 2015, on Saturday, September 19, at the home of Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club.
Following their opening match, the Springboks will move north, to the central English city of Birmingham, where they will face Samoa at Villa Park, home of the English Premiership soccer team Aston Villa, on Saturday, September 26.
The Springboks’ third match, against Scotland on Saturday, October 3, is scheduled for the historic St James’ Park in Newcastle in the far north east of England, where Newcastle United play their Premiership home matches.
For their final pool match, the Springboks will move from St James’ Park, in use since 1880, to the brand new Olympic Stadium in London, built specifically for the Olympic Games last year. This match, against the second qualifier from the Americas, will take place on Wednesday, October 7.
“The Springboks have a proud record at Rugby World Cups and I’m confident they will be there again at the business end of the tournament in 2015, but we have to ensure our planning is perfect for this tournament if we are going to do our country proud over in England.” said SARU CEO Jurie Roux.
“It’s great to know this far in advance what our schedule for the pool matches will look like, as it provides our logistics team with ample opportunity to ensure the Springboks stay in the best hotels, get the best training facilities and come up with a travel schedule what will benefit the team..
Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer said: “Playing in parts of the UK that we normally don’t see, such as Brighton, Birmingham and Newcastle, is exciting.
“In the end however, the games still have to be won and it doesn’t matter where we play, we have to ensure we get more points on the scoreboard than our opponents.
“The Rugby World Cup is still more than two years away and a lot of rugby will be played between now and then, but we now have an opportunity to put all our planning into place for that tournament.”
The four quarter-finals are scheduled for Twickenham in London and the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff on the weekend of October 17/18. Both semi-finals will be hosted by Twickenham (October 24/25), while the third-place playoff will take place on October 30 at the Olympic Stadium.
The Rugby World Cup final will be at Twickenham on Saturday, October 31.
Fixtures announced on Thursday for the 2015 Rugby World Cup in England and Wales:
Friday, September 18 (Pool A) England v Oceania 1 - Twickenham Stadium
Saturday, September 19 (Pool C) Tonga v Europe 1 - Kingsholm Stadium
Saturday, September 19 (Pool D) Ireland v Americas 1 - Millennium Stadium
Saturday, September 19 (Pool B) South Africa v Asia 1 - Brighton Community Stadium
Saturday, September 19 (Pool D) France v Italy - Twickenham Stadium
Sunday, September 20 (Pool B) Samoa v Americas 2 - Brighton Community Stadium
Sunday, September 20 (Pool C) New Zealand v Argentina - Wembley Stadium
Sunday, September 20 (Pool A) Wales v Playoff Winner - Millennium Stadium
Wednesday, September 23 (Pool B) Scotland v Asia 1 - Kingsholm Stadium
Wednesday, September 23 (Pool A) Australia v Oceania 1 - Millennium Stadium
Wednesday, September 23 (Pool D) France v Europe 2 - Olympic Stadium
Thursday, September 24 (Pool C) New Zealand v Africa 1 - Olympic Stadium
Friday, September 25 (Pool C) Argentina v Europe 1 - Kingsholm Stadium
Saturday, September 26 (Pool D) Italy v Americas 1 - Elland Road
Saturday, September 26 (Pool B) South Africa v Samoa - Villa Park
Saturday, September 26 (Pool A) England v Wales - Twickenham Stadium
Sunday, September 27 (Pool A) Australia v Playoff Winner - Villa Park
Sunday, September 27 (Pool B) Scotland v Americas 2 - Elland Road
Sunday, September 27 (Pool D) Ireland v Europe 2 - Wembley Stadium
Tuesday, September 29 (Pool C) Tonga v Africa 1 - Sandy Park
Thursday, October 1 (Pool D) France v Americas 1 - stadiummk
Thursday, October 1 (Pool A) Wales v Oceania 1 - Millennium Stadium
Friday, October 2 (Pool C) New Zealand v Europe 1 - Millennium Stadium
Saturday, October 3 (Pool B) Samoa v Asia 1 - stadiummk
Saturday, October 3 (Pool B) South Africa v Scotland - St James' Park
Saturday, October 3 (Pool A) England v Australia - Twickenham Stadium
Sunday, October 4 (Pool C) Argentina v Tonga - Leicester City Stadium
Sunday, October 4 (Pool D) Ireland v Italy - Olympic Stadium
Tuesday, October 6 (Pool D) Americas 1 v Europe 2 - Leicester City Stadium
Tuesday, October 6 (Pool A) Oceania 1 v Playoff Winner - stadiummk
Wednesday, October 7 (Pool C) Africa 1 v Europe 1 - Sandy Park
Wednesday, October 7 (Pool B) South Africa v Americas 2 - Olympic Stadium
Friday, October 9 (Pool C) New Zealand v Tonga - St James' Park
Saturday, October 10 (Pool B) Samoa v Scotland - St James' Park
Saturday, October 10 (Pool A) Australia v Wales - Twickenham Stadium
Saturday, October 10 (Pool A) England v Playoff Winner - Manchester City Stadium
Sunday, October 11 (Pool D) Italy v Europe 2 - Sandy Park
Sunday, October 11 (Pool B) Americas 2 v Asia 1 - Kingsholm Stadium
Sunday, October 11 (Pool C) Argentina v Africa 1 - Leicester City Stadium
Sunday, October 11 (Pool D) France v Ireland - Millennium Stadium
Saturday, October 17 Quarter-Final 1: Winner Pool C v Runner-Up Pool D - Millennium Stadium
Saturday, October 17 Quarter-Final 2: Winner Pool B v Runner-Up Pool A - Twickenham Stadium
Sunday, October 18 Quarter-Final 3: Winner Pool D v Runner-Up Pool C - Millennium Stadium
Sunday, October 18 Quarter-Final 4: Winner Pool A v Runner-Up Pool B - Twickenham Stadium
Saturday, October 24 Semi-Final 1: Winner QF1 v W QF2 - Twickenham Stadium
Sunday, October 25 Semi-Final 2: Winner QF3 v W QF4 - Twickenham Stadium
Friday, October 30 Bronze Final - Olympic Stadium
Saturday, October 31 Final - Twickenham Stadium
