Home Grounds
The Springboks do not use a national stadium as their home, but play out of a number of venues throughout South Africa. The 60,000 seat Ellis Park Stadium in Johannesburg (known commercially as Coca-Cola Park) was the main venue for the 1995 World Cup, where the Springboks defeated the All Blacks in the final. Other regular venues for tests include Pretoria's Loftus Versfeld Stadium, DHL Newlands in Cape Town, Mr Price Kings Park in Durban, Vodacom Park in Bloemfontein, and the EPRU Stadium in Port Elizabeth. The Springboks played their first test match at Soccer City on 21 August 2010, a Tri Nations match against New Zealand.
Other stadiums which have been used for test matches include Buffalo City Stadium in East London, the Royal Bafokeng Sports Palace outside of Rustenburg and Puma Stadium in Witbank.
The first South African international took place at Port Elizabeth's St George’s Park Cricket Ground in 1891. Ellis Park was built in 1928, and in 1955 hosted a record 100,000 people in a Test between South Africa and the British and Irish Lions.
The Springboks are said to have a notable advantage over touring sides when playing at high altitude on the Highveld. Games at Ellis Park, Loftus Versfeld, or Vodacom Park are said to present physical problems, and to influence a match in a number of other ways, such as the ball travelling further when kicked. Experts disagree on whether touring team's traditionally poor performances at altitude are more due to a state of mind rather than an actual physical challenge.
Read more about this topic: South Africa National Rugby Union Team
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