Springboks chase perfect November tour as Wales await in final Test of 2025

The Springboks have set their sights on making it five wins from five on their November tour, with Wales their final hurdle of 2025.

After a strong display against Ireland this past weekend, breaking a 13-year hoodoo in Dublin by winning 24-13, the attention turns to Cardiff now, as the world champions look to continue their run of good form against the Welsh.

While it was a sweet victory at the Aviva Stadium, there were still errors that the Boks will look to rectify on Saturday. They created plenty of opportunities, but due to their own mistakes and negative play by the Irish, they could not capitalise on them.

According to outside centre Jesse Kriel, who played another strong defensive role against Ireland, they won't be too caught up with what they achieved in Dublin. The next session on the training field remains their top priority. Should the Boks win, they will complete back-to-back unbeaten year-end tours.

It will mark a success rate of 12 out of 14 Tests for the South Africans — they also beat the Barbarians in a friendly match earlier this year — as they continue a strong build-up to the 2027 Rugby World Cup in Australia.

“We won’t dwell on this for too long; there is still a job to do,” Kriel said.

“It’s always about the next training session. It’s about pitching up each day and giving your best and then getting the job done. To make it five out of five, that is obviously the goal when we came on tour.

“It will be another massive Test match this weekend and we’ve really had some tough games so far in this series; it will be no different in the final one. I am really excited for it and to see if the boys can get the job done.”

According to Kriel, it was a special victory over Ireland and after the Boks had to contend with red cards in previous clashes, it was their opposition who were on the receiving end.

At one stage, the Irish played with 12 after a flurry of yellows and a red card.

However, the Boks went about their business and exerted pressure on them, especially at scrum time and on defence.

“It was a bit of a weird game. To our credit, I think we applied unbelievable pressure on the opposition, which forced cards and things like that. There were a lot of stop-starts, and it’s obviously quite hard, but I think the guys adapted well and we got the result.

“We said we wanted a result, and regardless of how we did it, we got it done, and that is all that matters.”