Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus said on Tuesday the team was anticipating a testing Rugby Championship campaign, which kicks off against the Wallabies in Johannesburg on August 16.
He also stressed the importance of their two-week training camp, saying it was vital in ensuring the coaches, players and management team were aligned and prepared for the competition.
The Springboks won the prestigious tournament in 2024 for the first time since 2019 in an impressive campaign in which they suffered only one defeat.
This was against Argentina by a single point in Santiago del Estero and Erasmus’ charges will go full out to defend their title and retain the Freedom Cup (against New Zealand) and Nelson Mandela Challenge Plate (against Australia) this year.
The Boks will begin their campaign with back-to-back Tests against the Wallabies in Johannesburg and Cape Town, before facing the All Blacks in successive matches in Auckland and Wellington.
They then return to Durban to face Argentina and then travel to London, where they will wrap up their campaign against Los Pumas.
“We are always careful about the opposition in the Rugby Championship,” Erasmus said.
“Australia showed last weekend that they have what it takes to win a match against a team like the British & Irish Lions, and they have an opportunity to try to achieve that this weekend, so we are expecting tough battles against them, as well as New Zealand and Argentina.”
With the Boks on a four-match winning run so far this season after victories against the Barbarians and an Incoming Series clean sweep against Italy and Georgia, to add to their training camp weeks, Erasmus said: “We would have eight weeks of proper preparation before we take the field in the Rugby Championship, and we are pleased with the physicality that Italy and Georgia brought against us in the past few weeks.
“We have another three weeks to prepare for the matches against Australia, so we’ll be working hard on the training field in the next few weeks.
“We always knew that our first few matches would not be as tough as the Rugby Championship, even though the opposition was competitive and physical, but we are now going up against teams with solid game plans and a different intensity.
“Australia would have also come off the British & Irish Lions Series by the time we face them, so it will be a challenging tournament.”
Erasmus admitted that this week’s training camp was not originally part of their schedule, but he said it would benefit the team on several fronts.
“These two weeks of camp will give us time to align as coaches, as well as on the conditioning aspects for the players and to take stock from a medical perspective, so it’s important in assisting us to get to where we want to be against three good countries in the series.”
The Springboks will wrap up the first week of their training camp on Thursday and spend the weekend with their families, before reassembling in Johannesburg on Sunday to continue their on-field preparations.
Rugby Championship fixtures:
Aug 16: SA vs Australia, Johannesburg, 5.10pm
Aug 23: SA vs Australia, Cape Town, 5.10pm
Sept 6: New Zealand vs SA, Auckland, 9.05am
Sept 13: New Zealand vs SA, Wellington, 9.05am
Sept 7: SA vs Argentina, Durban 5.10pm
Oct 4: Argentina vs SA, London, 3pm — SA Rugby Communications
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.