Springbok head coach Jacques Nienaber expressed his satisfaction that his small squad of players had achieved their goals at their first of two preparation camps in Durban for this month.
The world champions continue their preparations for the 2023 international season and the main aim of their training camp – which finished on Friday – was to get the players into Test mode, after their commitments to their clubs and franchises, and to lay the groundwork for the Test campaign which will culminate in the Rugby World Cup in France later this year.
The Bok squad had five field training sessions and several off-field sessions since their arrival in Durban on Tuesday night.
Second training camp lying in wait
The second training camp in Durban will take place from Monday 29 to Wednesday May 31.
“This camp was invaluable in getting the coaches and players on the same page in terms of our structures and systems as we prepare for this important season,” said Nienaber.
“The message from the coaches from day one was that the players had to leave the camp knowing what we expect from them on and off the field in the next few months as we look to select our Rugby World Cup squad in August.
“We have another training camp in Durban in two weeks, which will feature a bigger squad as we welcome the DHL Stormers after the Vodacom United Rugby Championship Grand Final, and perhaps a few more Japanese players who have completed their club commitments.
“That camp will give us another opportunity to get the players into the swing of things before our Pretoria training camp in June.”
Nienaber said he is delighted with the quality of the training sessions and how receptive the players were to the off-field sessions.
“We believe we have a fantastic base to work from,” he added.
“We also had the opportunity to assess the injured players and we’ll monitor their progress and rehabilitation closely in the next few months. All in all, we are in a good frame of mind as our first Castle Lager Rugby Championship Test against Australia approaches.”
He also revealed that the Boks will have a Rugby World Cup training camp in Bastia, Corsica after their last warm-up clash against the All Blacks at Twickenham on Friday, August 25.
The Boks will be based on the mountainous island in the Mediterranean Sea south of France until Sunday, September 1, before travelling to their base in Toulon for their World Cup opener against Scotland on Saturday, September 10.
“The Corsica camp will be ideal for the players to adapt to the conditions in France while finetuning our preparations for our first World Cup game,” explained Nienaber.
“We reaped the rewards of spending time in Japan before the 2019 Rugby World Cup, and hopefully this camp will be equally beneficial in getting the players used to the climate and culture in France.
“I’d like to thank the Executive Council of Corsica and the Corsica Rugby League for welcoming us for this important camp.”
The Boks’ Rugby Championship preparations starts with a training camp in Pretoria from Monday 12 to Friday June 30. The side will slot into match mode the following week for their tournament opener against the Wallabies at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria on Saturday, July 8.
Nienaber’s troops will then head to New Zealand for their second Test of the truncated version of the competition against the All Blacks at Mount Smart Stadium in Auckland (July 15), before returning to South Africa for their closing match against Argentina in Johannesburg (July 29).
Rugby World Cup warm-up games
South Africa will play three Rugby World Cup warm-up games: against Los Pumas in Buenos Aires (Saturday, August 5), Wales in Cardiff (Saturday, August 19) and the All Blacks in London (Friday, August 25) respectively.
They will then head off to France for the global showpiece where they face Scotland in Marseille (Sunday, September 10), Romania in Bordeaux (Sunday, September 17), Ireland in Paris (Saturday, September 23) and Tonga in Marseille (Sunday, October 1) during the pool stages.
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