Bob Skinstad joins KickOff Rugby for Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry Tour coverage

KickOff Rugby has signed Springbok legend Bob Skinstad as a new columnist, bringing the former South Africa captain’s experience and insight to its coverage of Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry Tour.

Skinstad will examine the series as South Africa face New Zealand in four Tests, while the All Blacks also prepare to play the country’s four United Rugby Championship franchises.

The 2007 Rugby World Cup winner will provide a perspective shaped by his own time inside the Springbok set-up. He won 42 Test caps for South Africa and scored 11 tries in the green and gold during his international career.

His playing achievements are matched by a long-standing reputation for understanding the game and communicating its detail clearly. That knowledge will form the basis of a new column focused on the demands and experience of a major tour.

Skinstad’s writing will explore life inside the Springbok camp, the realities involved in travelling for a significant rugby series and the shared enthusiasm that links South African and New Zealand rugby.

His first column will be published on Friday, 7 August. It will appear as the All Blacks prepare for their opening match of the tour, against the Stormers at Cape Town Stadium.

The Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry Tour places the four-Test contest between the Springboks and the All Blacks alongside New Zealand’s matches against South Africa’s four United Rugby Championship franchises.

For KickOff Rugby, Skinstad’s arrival adds a former international player with direct knowledge of the Springboks and a clear understanding of the contest between the two nations.

A Rugby World Cup winner in 2007, he remains closely associated with South African rugby through his international record and his ability to assess the game beyond the action on the field.

His column will therefore offer readers an inside perspective on the Springbok environment while also considering the wider relationship between South African and New Zealand rugby.

The series begins with the All Blacks’ meeting with the Stormers at Cape Town Stadium, before the wider tour continues with the four Tests between New Zealand and South Africa and New Zealand’s fixtures against the four United Rugby Championship franchises.

Skinstad has been welcomed to the KickOff Rugby team ahead of the first instalment of his new column.

Readers can follow Bob Skinstad on LinkedIn.