South Africa Rugby hit out at ‘misinformed’ reports ahead of England game

South Africa are set to play England in their opening Nations Championship fixture this summer at Ellis Park; however, they have hit out at reports they believe are ‘misinformed’ ahead of kick-off.

The current world champions are set to host England this Saturday in the first-ever round of fixtures in this new tournament.

Steve Borthwick’s side travels to the African continent, aiming to end their poor form in 2026, as they finished fifth in the Six Nations, have lost their last four Tests, and suffered their first-ever defeat to Italy.

This clash with the Springboks will not be easy, as former England international Joe Marler believes it will be a ‘baptism of fire’ for this current squad.

Ahead of the Test South African Rugby have hit out at what they believe is misreporting regarding the projected ticket sales at Ellis Park for the visit of England.

Midweek it had been reported only around 21,000 tickets had been sold for the Johannesburg fixture, even though the stadium has a capacity of 61,000.

England's players react at the end of the Six Nations international rugby union match between Italy and England at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome

In a statement, South Africa Rugby have moved to dispute those claims, as they said: “Predictions that the attendance would be little more than 21,000 were entirely erroneous and misinformed.

“SA Rugby hopes to get close to the historic average against England in SA of 91 per cent of the stadiums’ capacity in a market in which tickets are on sale for four Test matches and two provincial matches against the touring All Blacks.

“Assertions of lack of interest are unfounded and not supported by the actual sales data.”

South Africa and England are just two of the intriguing clashes this Saturday in the Rugby Nations Championship, of the intriguing clashes this Saturday in the Nations Championship as the other home nations are all in action.

Ireland are in Australia to face the Wallabies, while Wales will take on Fiji at the Cardiff City Stadium, with Scotland taking on Los Pumas in Argentina.