After gloom in Ireland, Boks bask in Cote d'Azur sunshine in France

The Springboks left Ireland under somewhat of a cloud as rainy, miserable weather swept in over the Irish Sea on Sunday.

Their defeat to Ireland would have contributed to a gloomy disposition but they would have awakened to the spiritually restorative South African truism that 'more is nog 'n dag'.

From the hotel where they took up residence on a peninsula that juts out on the western edge of the port of Toulon, they were greeted by a sun-kissed Mediterranean on Monday.

With it perhaps came fresh perspective as they fully digested defeat to the top-ranked team in the world on their home patch.

It is perhaps worth noting they came close to winning a game in which they fell short in several key areas. They had Ireland on the back foot for large parts of the game but small imprecisions, and to be fair, Irish wherewithal and pluck, tripped them up.

The Cote d'Azur will give them opportunity to reflect and take it all in.

Their assignment this week is different in many ways. Sure, they will again play a team that has increasingly earned the respect of their peers and are perhaps at the peak of their power, but this week there is a bigger picture.

Their week here in the naval port is as much aimed at firing one across the Tricolores' increasingly fortified bow at Marseille's Stade Velodrome on Saturday, as it is doing reconnaissance for a much bigger battle to come — next year's Rugby World Cup.

It is from here that the Springboks will launch their assault in defence of the title they won in Japan just over three years ago.

For their stay in the build-up and initial part of the tournament they will be back at the splendid Grand Hotel de Sablettes. In keeping with their choice of hotels that is often well removed from the hustle and bustle of the city centre and its many potential distractions, the Boks in this case are a good 30 minutes drive from town.

Though in distance they are just 10km away the journey is compromised by heavy congestion partly due to the narrow suburban asphalt.

A plan, however, has been devised.

As will be the case on Wednesday the team will be travelling via ferry to their training facility in the city thus significantly reducing their travel time. Time is a precious commodity in the build-up to Test matches and sitting in traffic in the south of France seems a waste.

Support independent journalism by subscribing to the Sunday Times. Just R20 for the first month.