England face rematch with world champions South Africa in autumn clashes

Reuters

England and South Africa last met in the World Cup semi-finalsAFP

England will have a trio of Tests against the traditional giants of the southern hemisphere and a further clash with Japan in this year's autumn internationals in November, officials confirmed on Monday.

Steve Borthwick’s side host New Zealand on November 2nd, before a clash with Australia a week later and then world champions South Africa on November 16th, a repeat of their World Cup semi-final in Paris last October.

England will also host Japan on Sunday, November 24th to complete their fixtures.

Six Nations champions Ireland take on New Zealand (November 8th) and Argentina (November 15th), both on a Friday night in Dublin, before fixtures against Fiji (November 23rd) and Australia (November 30th), where they will be reunited with new Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt, who led the team for six years up until 2019.

New Zealand also have a new coach in Scott Robertson and his daunting maiden autumn tour also includes a trip to Paris to face France on November 16th and a resurgent Italy a week later.

South Africa, unusually for recent times, will play only three Tests. They start with Scotland on Sunday, November 10th, followed by England and a final game in Cardiff against Wales (November 23rd).

The Scots also face Fiji (November 2nd), and Portugal and Australia on consecutive weekends after their clash with the Springboks.

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