Johannesburg - The Springboks are in full-on “Ireland mode” after concluding their three-day training camp in Stellenbosch on Wednesday, with the match against the No 1 ranked team in the world less than two weeks away.
Director of rugby Rassie Erasmus, and the Springbok and SA A coaches Jacques Nienaber and Mzwandile Stick will announce the travelling squads on Friday – the Boks will play against Ireland in Dublin next Saturday, France in Marseille on 12 November, Italy in Genoa on 19 November, and England in London on 26 November.
The SA A team will face Munster on 10 November and Bristol Bears on 17 November.
“It was a fantastic camp, and it offered the coaches an ideal opportunity to get the players to switch their focus to the Ireland Test next week and the forthcoming SA A matches,” said Erasmus.
“It was also valuable in the sense that it exposed new players such as Manie Libbok and Sacha Mngomezulu to our structures and it was important to see them in action as we finalise the selections.
“The next step is to decide which players will depart for Ireland on Saturday as members of the Springbok squad and those who will travel straight to Cork on Saturday, November 5, as part of the SA A touring group.”
The players who will depart for Ireland on Saturday will not play in the United Rugby Championship this weekend, while the other players will be eligible for selection for the Lions versus Stormers and Bulls versus Sharks matches.
Nienaber said the coaches achieved what they set out to do at the camp. “The training camp was beneficial in many ways as the players are back in Test mode, we had an opportunity to look at and discuss the opposition we’ll be facing on tour, and we had a golden opportunity to work with the SA A coaching team and expose them to the way we do things at the Springboks,” Nienaber said.
Stick explained the importance of the SA A games.
“They will not only serve the purpose of exposing the players – both those who are young and their more experienced counterparts to top-class international club rugby – it will also allow the national coaches to give a wider group of players valuable game time at this level with the World Cup in mind,” Stick said.
The Bok touring squad will assemble in Johannesburg on Saturday afternoon and will depart for Ireland later in the evening.
IOL Sport