The Mercury

Boks ‘zoom into more detail’ at final alignment camp

- MIKE GREENAWAY mike.greenaway@inl.co.za

SPRINGBOK coach Jacques Nienaber will name his first squad of the year within the next fortnight, and the players will go into a camp on 6 June in Pretoria and remain there until they play the first Test against Wales on 2 July.

Nienaber confirmed this at the conclusion of the third and final Bok alignment camp, which ended yesterday in Cape Town.

The Springbok coaching team hosted their first alignment camp in Durban in April before heading to Europe to meet with a few overseas-based players, and they wrapped up this stage of their preparatio­n for the internatio­nal season with a five-day camp in Cape Town.

Nienaber and his assistant coaches touched on several on-field and off-field aspects that will be important for the upcoming season and with an eye on the 2023 World Cup in France, as the South Africans look to retain their ranking as the No 1 team in the world and continue putting the building blocks in place to defend their title.

The team will kick off their 2022 season with three home Tests against Wales before launching into the Rugby Championsh­ip, where they will host the All Blacks in backto-back Tests, which will be followed by a tour to Australia and Argentina.

They will then return home for their final Test against the Pumas in Durban in September.

“We are satisfied with the alignment camps, and we believe these sessions will be beneficial to ensure a smooth return to the training field before the three Tests against Wales,” said Nienaber.

“While the first alignment (camp) in Durban touched on the team’s programme this season and in the lead up to the World Cup in France – as well as a broad overview of what worked last season and what we can improve on – we zoomed into more detail at this camp, focusing on the key areas for the team going forward as we turn our attention to the internatio­nal season and further ahead to the World Cup.

“I’m very happy with the players’ enthusiasm, and their desire to keep learning and fine-tuning the areas of their game that could make a big difference in the quality of our rugby.

“With the alignment camps now behind us, we will turn our attention to selecting a national squad before the end of the month and ensuring that we plan as well as possible for our upcoming training camp,” said Nienaber, who added that the players will stay in camp until the first Wales Test at Loftus.

“These three back-to-back Tests, in turn, will lay an important foundation for our Rugby Championsh­ip campaign, so it is vital that we get the minor detail right from the outset.”

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