The game – which kicks off at 17h10 at the DHL Stadium – marks the Boks’ first match of the international season, after a successful 2024 campaign that yielded 11 wins in 13 Tests, as well as a Castle Lager Rugby Championship title.

South Africa and the travelling club will compete for the Qatar Airways Cup, which the Boks have held since defeating the All Blacks at the Allianz Stadium, Twickenham in 2023, and Wales at the same London venue last year.

All eight of the previous matches between the Boks and Barbarians were staged in Europe, with South Africa winning three, the Barbarians winning four, and one match ending in a draw.

The Barbarians were formed in 1890, when William Percy Carpmael, a player for both Blackheath and Cambridge University, realised his dream of “spreading good fellowship amongst all rugby football players” and harnessing the game’s virtues, namely “flair, courage, spirit and passion”.

In 1952, the Barbarians played their inaugural fixture against the Springboks at Cardiff Arms Park in Wales, which South Africa went on to win 17-3. Nine years later, the Barbarians claimed their first victory against the Boks, winning 6-0 at the same venue.

The next two meetings followed a similar pattern, with the Boks winning 21-12 at Twickenham in 1970, before the Barbarians pulled one back in 1994, winning 23-15 at Lansdowne Road in Dublin.

In 2000, the Boks rounded off a largely successful tour of Argentina and Europe with a 41-31 victory over the Barbarians at the Millennium Stadium. Although nobody knew it at the time, that result in Cardiff would mark the Boks’ last win against the black and white hoops for a quarter of a century.

After winning the 2007 World Cup in France, a much-changed Bok side lost 22-5 to the Barbarians at Twickenham. The next contest in 2010 was closer, although the Barbarians still managed to win 26-20 in London.

The most recent meeting was staged at Wembley Stadium in London, with Allister Coetzee in charge of the Boks and former Crusaders and Australia coach Robbie Deans at the helm of the Barbarians.

Flyhalf Pat Lambie captained the Boks on that occasion, Malcolm Marx, RG Snyman, Pieter-Steph du Toit and Jesse Kriel were part of the starting line-up, while an exciting mix of players including Bongi Mbonambi, Eben Etzebeth and Jean-Luc du Preez manned the bench.

Apart from Lambie, all of the aforementioned players are still part of the wider squad today, with Kriel captaining the Boks in place after Siya Kolisi was withdrawn due to precautionary measures.

The Barbarians led 17-12 at half-time, before South Africa hit back in the second stanza with three tries. Rohan Janse van Rensburg’s touchdown in the 77th minute ensured that the Boks came away from Wembley with a 31-31 draw.

With the above in mind, both teams will have everything to play today. The Barbarians, again with Deans as head coach, will be gunning for a historic result on South African soil, while the Boks will be highly motivated to end that winless streak and to take some momentum into the subsequent Castle Lager Incoming Series against Italy and Georgia this July.