1906 — Paul Roos, the man who dubbed the South African rugby team the Springboks, captains the national side for the first time as they win the second match of their end-of-year tour. SA beat Ireland 15-12 in Belfast, scoring four tries and a penalty. It was only Roos’s second match for the Boks, having missed the first tour Test against Scotland, which SA lost 0-6.
1951 — The Springboks thrash Scotland 44-0, running in nine tries at Murrayfield in Edinburgh. Prop Chris Koch scored two tries, with eighthman and captain Hennie Muller and centres Tjol Lategan and Ryk van Schoor also dotting down. That eclipsed their 38-0 win over Ireland from 1912 as their biggest margin of victory, and remained their biggest until 1995.
1971 — The first mixed race golf tournament tees off at Huddle Park, featuring a field of nearly 100, notably Gary Player and 18 players of colour who comprised African-American competitor Lee Elder, Lu Liang-Huan of Taiwan and 16 locals including Vincent Tshabalala, Daddy Naidoo and Solly Sepeng. Elder, who was invited to participate by Player, faced censure at home by the Black Power movement. The R25,000 Louis Luyt PGA Championship, sponsored by the businessman who went on to head SA and Transvaal rugby, was the first in the apartheid government’s newly termed “multinational” sports tournaments. What made this unique is that all race groups had free access to the club house facilities. Only five local players of colour ended up making the cut after two rounds. Black players were at a considerable disadvantage because their courses, including Soweto’s Mofolo Park layout, had sandy greens and no bunkers and conditions were generally so bad that players were allowed to tee up the ball on the fairways and even in the rough.
1993 — Andrew Hudson scores 62 and Brian McMillan an unbeaten 48 as SA lose their Hero Cup semifinal against India by two runs in Kolkata. SA needed six off the final over, which was bowled by Sachin Tendulkar, but managed only three to finish short on 193/9.
1995 — Bafana Bafana beat Egypt 2-0 in a Simba Cup four-nations match in Mmabatho, with Helman Mkhalele and Shaun Bartlett scoring within three minutes of each other in the first half.
2001 — The Springboks are downed 29-9 by England at Twickenham. Winger Dan Luger scored the only try of the match. Centre Braam van Straaten kicked three penalties for SA.
2007 — In their first match since winning the World Cup, the Springboks beat Wales 34-12 at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff. Centre Jaque Fourie scored two tries, with No 8 Ryan Kankowski, winger JP Pietersen and flanker Juan Smith also dotting down.
2012 — Flank Willem Alberts scores the only try of the match as the Springboks beat England 16-15 at Twickenham to finish their three-Test end-of-year tour unbeaten. After flyhalf Pat Lambie converted Alberts’s try early in the second half, SA led 16-6. The hosts whittled away at the lead but couldn’t haul in the Boks' advantage.
2013 — The Proteas, chasing 219 for victory, are bowled out for 195 to lose the first ODI against Pakistan at Newlands. Jacques Kallis top-scored for SA with 50.
2018 — Jesse Kriel scores SA’s only try as the Springboks go down 11-20 to Wales at the Millennium Stadium. The Welsh scored two tries.
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