The Springboks wrapped up the first week of their Rugby Championship preparation camp in Johannesburg, with Rassie Erasmus hailing the mental and physical progress made during an intense opening block of training.
“We are pleased with the strides made and the mind-shift the players made for what will be a completely different contest against Australia, New Zealand, and Argentina,” said Erasmus.
South Africa will host the Wallabies in back-to-back Tests next month – at Ellis Park on 16 August and Cape Town on 23 August – before facing the All Blacks away in Auckland and Wellington, and then wrapping up the campaign with fixtures against Argentina in Durban and London.
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The Bok coach stressed that while fitness and conditioning were central to this week’s camp, the greater value came from aligning the squad’s mindset around what to expect from southern hemisphere rivals.
“The teams we will face in the next few months will ask different questions and pose different challenges,” Erasmus added.
“It was important for the group to align on what to expect, so this camp was vital in ensuring we prepare adequately for what lies ahead.”
Camp wrap: “We had an intense week of conditioning to get the players ready for what will undoubtedly be a challenging Castle Lager Rugby Championship campaign”
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The first block included a combination of gym work, field sessions, and tactical discussions, with players now given a short break before reconvening on Sunday for the second phase of preparations.
“We laid a good foundation this week, and next week we will zone more into what we expect from Australia and start developing plans to counter what we expect from them,” Erasmus explained.
“They showed last week against the British & Irish Lions what they are capable of, so we need to be ready mentally and physically for what they will throw at us in South Africa.”
South Africa will go into the Rugby Championship as defending champions and the No 1-ranked team in the world, but Erasmus is leaving nothing to chance.
“We identified a few key areas of our game that we needed to improve after the incoming series, and we incorporated those into our training blocks this week,” he said.
“Now it’s about sharpening our focus on each individual threat.”
Photo: Dirk Kotze/Gallo Images
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