Mark Gleeson BBC Sport

South Africa will play Australia in London

South Africa's national team will be back in action at the end of March, having agreed to play a friendly match against Australia.

It will be Bafana Bafana's first game since they were embarrassingly eliminated after the first round of the Nations Cup finals in Tunisia earlier this month.

The long-standing rivals will meet on 30 March at London's Loftus Road, the home of second division front-runners Queens Park Rangers.

The match is being played in Britain at the behest of the Australians, who draw almost all of their players from around Europe and prefer to avoid a lengthy journey home for international friendlies.

The vast bulk of the Socceroos are drawn from British and continental clubs.

This week Australia asked Fifa to invoke a weekend ban on striker Mark Viduka, who has a one-match suspension after missing the Socceroos' 1-1 draw with Venezuela in Caracas on Wednesday.

It means Viduka will be unavailable for Leeds United's vital fixture against Manchester United.

Viduka, ironically, made his international debut for Australia in a match against South Africa in Adelaide in 1994.

South Africa are still seeking a new coach but officials said he would be in place by the time of the game.

A reciprocal match has been set for 9 February 2005 in South Africa.

Australia and South Africa have a rivalry on the soccer pitch that stretches back to 1947.