Springboks tackle All Blacks in 2019 World Cup opener

World Champions New Zealand will start their 2019 defence against the Springboks at the iconic International Stadium in Yokohama.

The Pool match takes place on September 21 and will be the most high profile opener in the tournament’s history, with the two countries have won five World Cups between them.

The Springboks and All Blacks have played each other four times in World Cup history, with two wins each. They have never been paired in the same group.

The Springboks won the first two match-ups, in the 1995 World Cup final and in the 1999 third-place play-off. They lost the 2003 quarter-final and the 2015 semi-final to the All Blacks.

Breyton Paulse is the only Springbok to have scored a try against the All Blacks in the four World Cup matches, with all the Boks’ points coming from penalty kicks or drop goals.

The scores in each of the matches:

1995: Springboks 15 All Blacks 15 (Johannesburg, South Africa)

1999: Springboks 22 All Blacks 18 (Cardiff, Wales)

2003: Springboks 9 All Blacks 29 (Melbourne, Australia)

2015: Springboks 18 All Blacks 20 (London, England).

The Springboks play the All Blacks twice in 2018 and once in 2019 before the World Cup showdown.

Currently the Boks are on a six Test losing streak to the New Zealanders and have won just two of the last 16.

World Rugby announced that hosts Japan will play Europe 1 in the tournament-opining match in the Tokyo Stadium. The tournament starts on September 20 and the final is on November 2.

There will be 48 matches played across 12 cities.No team has ever lost a Pool match and gone on to win the tournament.

VIEW THE FULL RWC 2019 MATCH SCHEDULE >>With Japan’s biggest venues optimised, the iconic International Stadium in Yokohama will also be at the tournament’s heart with four pool matches, including New Zealand v South Africa, Ireland v Scotland, England v France and Japan v Scotland, while also hosting both semi-finals and the Rugby World Cup 2019 final on 2 November.World Rugby Chairman Bill Beaumont said: ‘Today the tournament comes to life for the players and fans. The announcement of the match schedule and ticketing programme will generate excitement as we all look ahead to a tournament that will break new ground as the first in Asia.’We are grateful to the cities and venues who have been at the heart of this process and will play such a central role in welcoming the world to Japan. We know that this will be a special, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for Japan to welcome the world to the whole of this great nation and a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for rugby fans from around the world to experience all Japan has to offer.”The schedule has also been developed following team feedback post Rugby World Cup 2015 with an equitable match schedule a core principle and a significant improvement has been achieved within the framework of a four pool, five teams per pool format. No tier two team plays a tier one team following a short rest period.

The 2019 RWC Schedule

World Rugby Chief Executive Brett Gosper added: ‘The development of the match schedule is an important milestone for what will be a very special Rugby World Cup. Throughout this rigorous process, we have had participating team experience for teams and fans at heart.

‘We have worked hard to deliver a match schedule that improves on the Rugby World Cup 2015 model, delivering a more balanced spread of matches across the four weeks of pool matches and greater rest periods for the emerging rugby nations ahead of matches against the top-ranked teams. These are the foundations that will assist the world’s top players to perform to their best in Japan.’

On a day that the ticketing programme was also announced, the organising committee have confirmed that more than 60,000 fans have registered for tickets, underscoring their ambition to make Rugby World Cup 2019 the most accessible Rugby World Cup to date.

Ticket sales will begin in January 2018 with supporter tours and domestic priority sales and fans can register their interest for Rugby World Cup 2019 tickets via the official tournament website