Bok coach remains upbeat
NIENABER: SA PLAYERS ARE BETTER-PREPARED THAN WE THINK THEY ARE
Bok coaching staff are continuing with logistical preparation and planning on all fronts.
South Africa are geared up for a return to rugby, according to Springbok coach Jacques Nienaber. General manager of corporate affairs at Saru Andy Colquhoun, said yesterday an announcement about the return would be made during this week.
This would include details about the Super Hero day at Loftus Versveld next weekend, a local competition from 10 October, the Rugby Championship and a possible North v South clash at Newlands on 3 October.
Nienaber, in his online column for the Springbok Magazine, said he believed the country’s top players were better prepared to start playing than most would like to believe.
“Locally, despite being out of action since mid-March, I think the players have done a really good job,” he said.
“It’s enlightening when you look at the dedication and sheer grit of them sticking to their individual training programmes during the lockdown,” he said.
Nienaber said from their point of view, the Springbok coaching staff had obviously cast more than an interested eye over the action in both New Zealand and Australia, as they planned for the rest of the season.
“Furthermore, we were delighted to see a number of our current Springboks, as well a fair number of players we had earmarked for a wider training group, returning to action in the Northern Hemisphere,” he said.
“Most notably in England, Ireland, Wales and Scotland, while those based in France also returned to action later,” he said.
Nienaber said while they were hoping to hear plans very soon for the rest of the year here in South Africa, the Springbok coaching staff were continuing with their planning and logistic preparations on various fronts.
“Fortunately, virtual meetings make it easy nowadays and convenient to gather a large group of players online at regular intervals,” he said.
“There, the coaching, medical and conditioning staff can interact with them to discuss various important aspects of our Springbok preparations such as analysis, training and recovery protocols, nutritional requirements and so on,” he added.
Nienaber said it was great to watch the full-blooded action of the Super Rugby Aotearoa series between thes five New Zealand sides, where the Crusaders once more showed their dominance despite some great competition from their fellow Kiwi rivals.
“The Australian version was similarly good to watch and also gave us some valuable insights into what these two countries had to offer both domestically and internationally.”