So far in 2024, the Springboks have only had two blips on the radar, which came in the form of narrow losses to Ireland and Argentina.
However, eight wins out of 10 this season leaves them with a healthy 80% win record for the season before they head on the end-of-year tour to face Scotland, England and Wales.
It’s unlikely that embattled Wales will be strong enough to upset the Springboks, but both Scotland and England will be dangerous opponents.
The odds will favour an unbeaten run for South Africa, though, and there is every chance they could finish the season with 11 wins from 13. That would leave them with a highly impressive 85% win record for the year.
In terms of a single year, this would draw comparisons to 1998 when the Springboks won 11 out of 12 Tests. That came after they’d won the last six games in 1997 in what turned out to be a record winning streak before the shock loss to England on 5 December 1998.
There is already some symmetry considering the current generation of Springboks won their last four games in 2023.
Nevertheless, if South Africa can finish strong in 2024, it will go down as one of their most successful annual seasons of all time.
REMAINING FIXTURES FOR THE SPRINGBOKS IN 2024
Sunday, 10 November: Scotland vs SA (Murrayfield, Edinburgh)
Saturday, 16 November: England vs SA (Twickenham, London)
Saturday, 23 November: Wales vs SA (Principality Stadium, Cardiff)
Coach Rassie Erasmus said the coaches were already hard at work preparing for this tour.
“For us, it (our job) is to watch the URC,” Erasmus said.
“We watched the Currie Cup to see how players like Quan Horn, who was part of our team, fared in the Currie Cup, just like Morne van den Berg who will play now.
“Thomas du Toit will probably go back to Bath and then we have a tough three-match schedule in which we would like to be unbeaten. It would be a great season if we could only lose two games.
“The players are off for three weeks, not the coaches. They will be with their franchises and after three weeks, the available guys will gather in Cape Town.
“It will include about 10 players playing in England and Japan and as the players get released, we will start preparing the last two weeks before we go overseas.”
DO YOU THINK THE BOKS WILL GO UNDEFEATED ON THE END-OF-YEAR-TOUR?
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