Boks' Irish jaunt in Dubai scrapped
Tue, 26 Aug 2008 20:51
A unique Test match between South Africa and Ireland that was scheduled for the city of Dubai in November, has been cancelled.
South African manager of national teams Andy Marinos confirmed that the match would not be taking place after South Africa and Ireland's rugby bosses came to an agreement four to five weeks ago that the match would not be feasible.
The match was provisionally scheduled for November 1, a date that also sees New Zealand and Australia clash in the final Bledisloe Cup match of the season, which is to be played in Hong Kong.
But it has since emerged that the playing surface that was proposed for the SA v Ireland game will not be ready for the event. Furthermore, the venue has also already been scheduled to host the International Rugby Board's Dubai Sevens event.
The scrapping of the match would probably be a relief for the Springbok players, considering that they already have to play three end-of-year tour matches against Wales, Scotland and England.
The Boks will already have played ten Tests in 2008 by that stage (two against Wales, one against Italy, one against Argentina, three against Australia and three against New Zealand).
The struggling Springboks will play their final Tri-Nations match of the season against Australia in Johannesburg on Saturday.
