As I’ve said in many a ‘November Rugby’ blog, Autumn in the UK means a month of rugby and following the Springboks around the UK and Europe with close friends is one of my favourite times of the year. This year the Boks had a packed five-week schedule, and I was excited to follow us to Wembley, Romilly’s 1st Test, the Stade de France and the Aviva Stadium.
We had a bonus UK fixture this year with Argentina opting for commercial reasons to play their home Rugby Championship game against the Boks at Twickenham.
It was the final game of the championship and the Boks needed to win to retain their title. It felt like a home game given the huge number of Saffas and what a wonderful day it was at Twickersfontein as the boys went Bok-to-Bok for the first time in the Rugby Championship, defeating Los Pumas 29-27.
Springboks vs. Japan – Wembley, London – 1 November 2025
While Romilly had experienced live sport before – in Lille watching women’s basketball at the 2024 Olympics – this was her first Springbok Test. I’m not sure who was more excited and whilst it was never going to be a full house or the best game, having Romy on my lap watching the Springboks together is a memory I will treasure forever.
For the record, it was a dominant and ruthless performance by the Boks – we scored nine tries and ran out 61-7 winners.
Springboks vs. France – Stade de France, Paris – 8 November 2025
After the heroics of 2023, Paris will forever hold a special place in my heart and boy was it good to be back! I hopped on an early afternoon Eurostar, arriving in time for beers at our usual spot, Belushi’s in Gare de Nord, to watch the afternoon game, which was the All Blacks at Murrayfield. They have four massive screens and it’s always a brilliant atmosphere with lots of folks in town for the rugby.
From Gare du Nord station, it’s a quick train ride to the stadium station and then a 15-minute walk to the stadium. We approached in different ways throughout WC 2023, but this route was the one we took for our Semi Final against England, and the memories come flooding back as the stadium came into view.
The French are still so pissed about the quarter-final and you could feel the hostility around the stadium. Entertainment wise the French are probably the best in the business, and it was an incredible atmosphere as the light show kicked off, and the players ran out. Our inspirational captain led the teams out in his 100th Test and as always, we belted out Nkosi at the top of our lungs.
Much like in 2023, the French started like a house on fire, and they dotted down after just seven minutes (it was three in 2023!). We started to flex our muscles at both the breakdown and in the scrum and after 20 minutes had reduced the gap to just a point. France then scored another wonderfully French try before a piece of individual brilliance from Cobus Reinach who spotted space near halfway, accelerated through a gap, chipped over the last defender, and regathered to score under pressure.
Again, it was a one-point game, and it would remain that way until just over 20 minutes to play when France extended their lead with a penalty. Despite playing the entire second half with only 14 men after Lood de Jager had been red carded on the stroke of half-time, these were the last points the French would score.
The Boks were simply outstanding in the final quarter – disciplined, committed and ruthless – scoring three wonderful tries: Andre Esterhuizen, who was operating as a backrower / centre smashed through from a maul, replacement scrum-half Jaden Hendrikse Williams darted through a gap after a dominant scrum and Sasha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, now operating at 15, scored the final try to seal a 32 – 17 win.
We celebrated this win for the ages at our usual ‘go-to’ just outside the stadium at the same bar we had celebrated at after every knock-out game in 2023 (QF, SF and Final). Much like in 2023, there were heaps of Saffas in town and the bar duly obliged with several local treffers!!
Once the bar closed, we headed back to Gare du Nord for the now traditional 3am steak frites and red wine to end off another truly uuuuuuuunnnnbelievable day. It was an early start the next morning catching the first train home and soft play that afternoon wasn’t the easiest!
Springboks vs. Ireland – The Aviva, Dublin – 22 November 2025
Next up on my November itinerary was a trip across the Irish Sea. The Springboks hadn’t won in Dublin since 2012, my Aviva debut in fact, with Ireland dominating recent encounters so this felt personal. I flew up on Friday late afternoon and enjoyed a wonderful 12 hours catching up with Hallsy in Howth, some 30 minutes outside the city, before heading into Dublin at midday on the Saturday.
There is certainly no shortage of spots for a delicious Guiness or three and with Dublin only an hour from London, and there being very affordable flights, as always there were Saffas piled into every pub we popped into.
Having won only one of our previous five encounters against the Irish, and as mentioned above having not won in Dublin for 13 years, the Boks had a point to prove and boy did they prove it. We absolutely obliterated the Irish scrum, showing a level of physical dominance you rarely see in a Tier One Match. We repeatedly opted for the scrum almost to make a point and fair play to the Irish for hanging in there with, at one point, only 12 players on the park.
It wasn’t all brute power with Damien Willmese finishing off a wonderfully worked try early doors to open the scoring and Sasha Feinberg-Mngomezulu handing off Jamison Gibson-Park to score a brilliant solo try and close out the game. In the end, the score line of 24-13 definitely flattered the Irish but we had made our point and banished the Dublin drought.
The Boks would smash the Welsh in the final game of the season to cap off another brilliant year. Bring on 2026!
