Boks line up for massive year
THE Springboks will start preparing for the 2023 rugby season in Cape Town today although only with a squad of 14 players.
This is the first of several training camps set up in the World Cup year and will involve off-field alignment sessions as well as on-field training sessions to prepare the players from a rugby and physical perspective.
Springbok coach Jacques Nienaber and SA Rugby’s director of rugby Rassie Erasmus will oversee the camp that will end on March 10. Thereafter the Boks will return to their respective franchises for the backend of the United Rugby Championship (URC) and the play-offs of the European Champions Cup.
“All of these players come off an important resting period, so the next three weeks will be crucial to ensure that they return to full-out rugby as effectively as possible and to get everyone aligned with our structures going into the World Cup year,” Nienaber said in a statement.
The Springboks start their Tests this year against Australia (July 8, Loftus Versfeld) in a truncated Rugby Championship, followed by clashes with New Zealand (Auckland) and Argentina (Ellis Park) before they play World Cup warm-up matches against Argentina (Buenos Aires), Wales (Cardiff) and the All Blacks (London).
The Boks start the defence of their World Cup title on September 10 against Scotland.
“We are thrilled to get this important season going, albeit with a small group of players as we look forward to the Rugby World Cup in less than seven months,” Nienaber added.
“Player management will be particularly important this season to get the squad to peak at the right time, while at the same time getting the desired results in the Rugby Championship, our World Cup warm-up games and at the international showpiece as we attempt to defend our title.”
The Boks are in a pool with Scotland, Ireland, Tonga and Romania with only two teams progressing to the quarter-finals.
Scotland and the Irish are unbeaten in the Six Nations Championship where the Scots have already triumphed over England and Wales. The Irish beat World Cup hosts and favourites France and a struggling Welsh side.
Erasmus was in the news recently for after another Twitter outburst where he criticised former Bok coach Nick Mallett, but he will be keen to get back to the rugby side of things.
“This is a massive year for the team, and we can’t wait to get back into the swing of things with an eye on the World Cup.
“With the URC on the go, we only have a small bunch of players available to work with at this stage. But we know from experience that every minute with the players on and off the field counts in a World Cup year.”
After yesterday’s local derby the Sharks still have two matches against Ulster (February 25) and the Stormers (March 4) without their Boks, while the Bulls (versus the Lions, March 4) and Stormers only have one game each without their players of national interest.
SPRINGBOK 2023 FIXTURES: Rugby Championship:
Saturday, 8 July – Springboks vs Australia (Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria); Saturday, 15 July – Springboks vs New Zealand (Mount Smart Stadium, Auckland); Saturday, 29 July – Springboks vs Argentina (Emirates Airline Park, Johannesburg).
World Cup warm-up fixtures:
Saturday, 5 August – Springboks v Argentina (Buenos Aires); Saturday, 19 August – Springboks vs Wales (Principality Stadium, Cardiff); Friday, 25 August – SA vs New Zealand (Twickenham, London).
Rugby World Cup fixtures:
Sunday, 10 September – Springboks v Scotland
(Stade Velodrome, Marseille); Sunday, 17 September – Springboks v Romania (Stade de Bordeaux, Bordeaux); Saturday, 23 September – Springboks v Ireland (Stade de France, Paris); Sunday, 1 October – Springboks v Tonga (Stade Velodrome, Marseille).
Weekend of 14/15 October – Quarter-finals
Weekend of 21/22 October – Semi-finals
Saturday, 28 October – Final