Date	Venue	Team	Result	Score
02/07/2021	Pretoria	Georgia	Won	40-9
24/07/2021	Cape Town	B&I Lions	Lost	17–22
31/07/2021	Cape Town	B&I Lions	Won	27-9
07/08/2021	Cape Town	B&I Lions	Won	19-16
14/08/2021	Port Elizabeth	Argentina	Won	32-12
21/08/2021	Port Elizabeth	Argentina	Won	29-10
12/09/2021	Gold Coast	Australia	Lost	26-28
18/09/2021	Gold Coast	Australia	Lost	17-30
25/09/2021	Queensland	New Zealand	Lost	17-19
02/10/2021	Gold Coast	New Zealand	Wom	31-29
06/11/2021	Cardiff	Wales	won	23-18
13/11/2021	Edinburgh	Scotland	Won	30-15
20/11/2021	London	England	Lost	26-27
02/06/2022	Pretoria	Wales	Won	32-29
09/06/2022	Bloemfontein	Wales	Lost	12-13
16/06/2022	Cape Town	Wales	Won	30-14
06/08/2022	Nelspruit	New Zealand	Won	26-10
13/08/2022	Johannesburg	New Zealand	Lost	23-35
27/08/2022	Adelaide	Australia	Lost	17-25
03/09/2022	Sydney	Australia	Won	24-8
17/09/2022	Buenos Aires	Argentina	Won	36-20
24/09/2022	Durban	Argentina	Won	38/21
05/11/2022	Dublin	Ireland	Lost	16-19
12/11/2022	Marseille	France	Lost	26-30
19/11/2022	Genoa	Italy	Won	63-21
26/11/2022	London	England	Won	27-13
08/07/2023	Johannesburg	Australia	Won	43-12
15/07/2023	Auckland	New Zealand	Lost	20-35
29/07/2023	Johannesburg	Argentina	Won	22-21
05/08/2023	Buenos Aires	Argentina	Won	24-13
19/08/2023	Cardiff	Wales	Won	52-16
25/08/2023	London	New Zealand	Won	35-7
10/09/2023	Marseille	Scotland	Won	18-3
17/09/2023	Bordeaux	Romania	Won	76-0
23/09/2023	Saint-Denis	Ireland	Lost	8-13
01/10/2023	Marseille	Tongo	Won	49-18
15/10/2023	Paris	France	Won	29-28
21/10/2023	Paris	England	Won	16-15
27/10/2023	Paris	New Zealand	Won	12-11
22/06/2024	London	Wales	Won	41-13
06/07/2024	Pretoria	Ireland	Won	27-20
06/07/2024	Durban	Ireland	Lost	24-25
20/07/2024	Bloemfontein	Portugal	Won	64-21
10/08/2024	Brisbane	Australia	Won	33-7
17/08/2024	Perth	Australia	Won	30-12
31/08/2024	Johannesburg	New Zealand	Won	31-27
7/9/2024	Cape Town	New Zealand	Won	18-12
22/9/2024	Argentina	Argentina	Lost	28-29
28/9/2024	Nelspruit	Argentine	Won	48-7
10/11/2024	Edinburgh	Scotland	Won	32-15
16/11/2024	London	England	Won.	29-20
23/11/2024	Cardiff	Wales	Won	45-12

The Springboks comfortably finished the year as the top team on the world rankings with a rewarding 11 victories in 13 Tests, and an impressive win record of 84.6%.

Adding to this, they scored the third highest number of tries in the season since 1992 in the process (57) – the most being in 2007 when they scored 81 tries, while they scored 74 five-pointers in 1997 when Rassie Erasmus donned the green and gold jersey himself, while the Bok coach used an extraordinary 50 players in the process.

Reflecting on the year that was, there was clearly a lot to celebrate, as evidences by the breakdown below.

Springboks by the numbers in 2024

#1 on the World Rugby Rankings

13 Tests Played

11 Tests won

2 Tests lost

57 tries scored

23 tries conceded (three clean-sheets, against Australia, New Zealand and Scotland)

450 points scored

220 points conceded

50 players used

4 captains (Kolisi, Moerat, Du Toit and Etzebeth)

3 World Rugby Player of the Year nominations (Du Toit, Etzebeth and Kolbe)

12 new caps

New caps:Jordan Hendrikse

Edwill vd Merwe

Ben-Jason Dixon

Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu

Jan-Hendrik Wessels

Johan Grobbelaar

Phepsi Buthelezi

Morne van den Berg

Andre-Hugo Venter

Ruan Venter

Quan Horn

Cameron Hanekom

50th TestsVincent Koch

Kwagga Smith

Erasmus’ charges also added two notable trophies to the cabinet at SARU House in Cape Town – the Rugby Championship trophy (last won in 2019) and the Freedom Cup (against New Zealand, last held in 2009).

he Springboks also retained the Prince William Cup (against Wales), the Nelson Mandela Challenge Plate (against Australia) and the Qatar Airways Cup.

These trophies boosted an already impressive trophy cabinet, which includes four Webb Ellis Cups and the last two British & Irish Lions Series trophies (2009 and 2021), amongst others.

The Springboks entered the 2024 Outgoing Tour with confidence after clinching the Rugby Championship title against New Zealand, Australia and Argentina, and they continued to make the country proud by registering a clean sweep of victories over Scotland, England, and Wales – the first time since 2013 they have achieved this remarkable feat.

Making the tour even more notable, Erasmus used 35 of the 36 players in the squad – the inclusion of Rugby World Cup-winning lock Jean Kleyn as an injury replacement for Ruan Nortje increased the number of players in the group to 36 – and had it not been for the withdrawal of Kleyn for the match-up against Wales, he would have used all the players in his squad once again.

The Springboks will undoubtedly look to build on this success next season when they face Italy and Georgia in the Incoming Series in South Africa in July, and home Tests in the Rugby Championship against Australia – who they defeated twice in succession abroad this season – as well as Argentina.

What was your highlight from the season?

Let me know by emailing Gadget.andrew@gmail.com or sending a WhatsApp to 082 457 2332.