Boks kickstart Test preparations
THE Springboks will kick off their preparations for the international season with a number of training camps, having started with the Lions and Bulls players this week.
The Boks haven’t played any Test rugby since their World Cup triumph in Japan back in 2019, and over the next two weeks the management team will host a series of alignment camps to get ready for the 2021 Test calendar, which includes the touring British & Irish Lions, the Rugby Championship and the traditional end-of-year tour to Europe.
This week, the Bok coaching team will present their plans for the season to a small group of players from the northern region, consisting of players from the Lions and Bulls.
Following the three days of alignment activities in Gauteng, the Springbok coaching team will then travel to Durban, where they will focus on the Sharks players tomorrow and Friday, before returning to Cape Town on Monday.
They will visit Bloemfontein on Wednesday.
There will be a number of camps over the next few weeks, including a couple of assemblies for the Springbok players based abroad in the United Kingdom, Ireland, France and Japan.
Director of Rugby Rassie Erasmus described these alignment exercises as the next phase of the Springboks’ strategic planning and preparation as the squad prepares for a return to Test rugby.
“With a very busy and demanding international season looming, it is important we get everyone aligned as soon as possible,” said Erasmus.
“Although Jacques (Nienaber) and his coaching staff have been in constant communication with the players throughout the past 15 months or so – keeping tabs on their performances, injury recovery and general wellbeing – we are now very excited and looking forward to meeting the players in a familiar team environment.
“The local players will meet up with the coaches, medical and conditioning staff and the rest of the management over the next two weeks, while we have similar plans for our European and Japanese-based players, with Felix Jones hosting sessions in the UK and France and the Japanese based-players joining us on virtual meetings.”
Bok coach Nienaber added: “There’s a lot of excitement, from players to coaches and the management staff, to finally get together and kick-start our preparations for what promises to be a very busy and challenging international season.
“A lot of background planning has already been done, but we are now looking forward to shifting our focus and preparation to a higher level because time is of the essence.
“We have purposefully kept the groups small so we can drill into as much specifics as possible.
“The players will get a lot of logistics, technical and tactical detail to absorb so by the time we’ve completed this alignment round-up, they will all be up to speed of what exactly is required from them during their upcoming club and franchise games and the training camps leading up the Lions Test series,” added Nienaber.