Boks start preparations for season with training camp in Pretoria

The Springboks will start their preparations for the coming season with a three-week preparation camp in Pretoria that starts this weekend.

The season begins with three Tests against Wales in the Castle Lager Incoming Series in Pretoria, Bloemfontein and Cape Town in July.

With three SA franchises in the United Rugby Championship (URC) quarterfinals this weekend, Springbok coach Jacques Nienaber will announce the squad next month.

Selected local players will also be invited to join the preparation camps as their respective franchises’ URC campaigns come to an end. They will participate training sessions over the next three weeks.

The training squad will be based in Pretoria until June 23 before switching bases to Johannesburg, where they will prepare for their opening Test against Wales at Loftus on July 2.

After the matches against Wales, the Boks will be on a one-week break before the team gathers at Sabie in Mpumalanga to prepare for the back-to-back Castle Lager Rugby Championship Tests against the All Blacks in Nelspruit and Johannesburg on August 6 and 13.

The Boks then travel to Australia for two Tests and one in Argentina before they wrap up the Rugby Championship in Durban on September 24.

“After months of preparation by the coaches off the field, we are excited to finally return to the field and to put our learnings into practice,” Nienaber said.

“We will start our preparations with a group of invited available players to ensure we can deliver quality training sessions. As more players become available following their URC campaigns they will join the squad.

“We also have to be cognisant of the fact that we are building toward to the 2023 Rugby World Cup, and that every training session and match we participate in needs to be in the back of our minds.”

Nienaber was excited about the prospect of facing Wales.

“They will be inspired to show what they can do in this series. One only has to look at the history books to see how close matches between these nations have been over the years, so we have to hit the ground running in July if we want to win the series and get the season off to the desired start.”