The Springboks host Georgia at the Mbombela Stadium in Nelspruit on Saturday 19 July and we preview the match and keep an eye on the weather, team news and the betting in the lad up to the match.
BETTING UPDATE AND 1ST BET
Posted 19 July 09h07
The handicap is pretty stable and you an get anywhere from -44.5 to +46.5 at the time of writing.
I expect a high scoring game and the line is generally 67.5 but a forum post from Southpaw caught my eye.
He took Boks over 8.5 tries at 1/1 and although that price has moved I like the play. Boks point are 58.5 and we can assume no penalties and the overs would need 9 tries and no more than 2 missed conversions. We will take the onversion factor out of play.
BET: 5 units South Africa over 8.5 tries at 8/10 at Pokerbet
Georgia Line Up
Posted 09:30 18th July
Georgia: 15 Davit Niniashvili, 14 Akaki Tabutsadze, 13 Demur Tapladze, 12 Giorig Kveseladze,11 Alexander Todua, 10 Luka Matkava, 9 Vasil Lobzhandidze, 8 Ilia Spanderashvili, 7 Beka Saginadze, 6 Luka Ivanishvili, 5 Vladimer Chachanidze, 4 Mikheil Babunashvili, 3 Irakli Aptsiauri, 2 Vano Karkadze, 1 Giorgi Akhaladze.
Replacements: 16 Irakli Kvatadze, 17 Giorgi Tetrashvili, 18 Beka Gigashvili, 19 Demur Epremeidze, 20 Sando Mamamtavrishvili, 21 Tornike Jalagonia, 22 Tedo Abzhandadze, 23 Tornike Kakhoidze
Springboks Team Announced
Posted 15:00 15th July
South Africa: 15 Aphelele Fassi, 14 Edwill van der Merwe, 13 Canan Moodie, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Kurt-Lee Arendse, 10 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, 9 Grant Williams, 8 Cobus Wiese, 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 6 Siya Kolisi, 5 Ruan Nortje, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Neethling Fouché, 2 Marnus van der Merwe, 1 Boan Venter.
Replacements: 16 Bongi Mbonambi, 17 Thomas du Toit, 18 Vincent Koch, 19 RG Snyman, 20 Kwagga Smith, 21 Faf de Klerk, 22 Handré Pollard, 23 Damian Willemse
BETTING IS OUT
Posted 14 July 23h38
I was pretty close with my forecast of -42.5 Boks and the line is -44.5 and appears to have opened in that region
South Africa v Georgia – Match Details and Preview
Posted 13 July 20h25
Date: Saturday, 19 July 2025
Kick-off: 18:10 (SAST)
Venue: Mbombela Stadium, South Africa
Weather: Cloudy conditions expected with temperatures in the high teens; rain is unlikely - source TimeandDate.com
South Africa come into this weekend’s clash with Georgia on the back of three straightforward home wins. They opened their 2025 campaign with a 54–7 victory over the Barbarians, followed by consecutive wins against Italy — a 42–24 result in the first Test and a more convincing 45–0 in the second.
While the opposition hasn’t posed major challenges, the Springboks have used these fixtures to rotate their squad and start laying the groundwork ahead of the upcoming Rugby Championship. This match against Georgia offers another opportunity to assess combinations and build cohesion in the lead-up to more demanding tests later in the season.
Georgia head to South Africa this weekend for a tough international clash against the Springboks, marking their second tier-one test of the season after falling 34–5 to Ireland earlier this month. It will be a major step up in class for the Lelos, who have enjoyed a dominant run in the 2025 European Nations Cup but now face the physical and tactical challenge posed by the world champions.
In the ENC, Georgia were near unstoppable, racking up five consecutive wins, including a staggering 110–0 demolition of Switzerland, and a commanding 62–32 victory away to Spain. They also dispatched Romania 43–5 and comfortably beat the Netherlands and Spain at home, showing sharp attacking form and defensive organisation against second-tier European opposition.
Their preparations included a competitive warm-up against the Cheetahs, where they narrowly lost 24–20—a match that offered valuable exposure to South African conditions and a more physical style of play.
Betting
There is no betting out yet but I would expect the Boks to be around -42.5 although team news will be important
Betting will be added when available.
