Bloemfontein Test, Tickets Selling Slowly

More than 13 000 tickets are still available for Saturday’s Tri Nations test match between the Springboks and the Wallabies at Vodacom Park in Bloemfontein. Officials say by this afternoon about 33 000 of the 46 000 available seats were sold.

The rows of empty seats at Loftus in Pretoria caught the eye at last weekend’s test and not even local hero Victor Matfield playing in his 100th test match could fill the stadium.The fact that both teams are out of the running for Tri Nations honours could have contributed to the decline in interest levels, but the Boks would dearly like to play in front of a full house.

Matfield, the Springbok vice captain says: “If they look at the last 60 minutes last week, they can expect something nice this weekend. It will be a great game to watch.”

After four consecutive losses, last weekend’s 44 – 31 victory has lifted the mood in the Springbok camp. Springbok prop, Jannie Du Plessis says: “Except for the fact that we want to win for the team, the people of South Africa do not expect the springboks to lose three, four or even two games in a row.”

Despite a five star performance against the All Blacks in Soweto two weeks ago, utility back Gio Aplon failed to make last weekend’s match, but he’s back in the squad and raring to go.

“It doesn’t matter how good you played or how you play, it still stays a privilege to play for this team,” Aplon said.

With an accumulative 750 test caps, Saturday’s starting line up is the most experienced in Springbok history.