Dixon battles through hurdles to earn ‘surprise’ Springbok recall

IT’S been a rather eventful 12 months for Springbok loose forward Ben-Jason Dixon — most of it off the field.

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After making his Bok debut in 2024, Dixon and the Stormers were involved in a bit of a standoff over his contract towards the end of the previous United Rugby Championship season. The two parties were in disagreement over the interpretation of a release clause in his current deal, which runs until 2027.

This was also during the time when Dixon was nursing a wrist injury, which eventually kept him out of the Springboks’ June and July Tests against the Barbarians, Italy and Georgia. After that, he also failed to make South Africa’s Rugby Championship squad due to an obvious lack of game time following the injury.

Since then, the contract issues have been resolved following the outcome of an independent arbitration — the process found Dixon's contract to be binding, with no revisions applicable. His wrist injury is also a thing of the past.