Bok coach Nienaber satisfied with progress after team camp in Cape Town

Springbok coach Jacques Nienaber is satisfied with progress made during the second week of a physical and rugby development camp at which all desired boxes were ticked.   

Fourteen players assembled in Cape Town for the three-week camp and will meet in Stellenbosch on Sunday for its closing week.

“It has been great to see the players’ attitudes and application of what we’ve been working through,” said Nienaber. 

“Our focus in the first week was mainly on rugby fundamentals and building a base from a physical point of view. This week we built on that by working on more specific rugby conditioning to add off-field alignment sessions. 

“We’ll close off the camp in Stellenbosch late next week, where we plan to step up the intensity of our field sessions and build on what we achieved this week.” 

Nienaber said despite having a small group, the camp was a big step for the players and coaches as the team build towards the Rugby World Cup (RWC) in France in September and October. 

“We have six Test matches before the Rugby World Cup and then we face the massive task of trying to defend our title, so every opportunity we receive to work with the players is of importance,” he said. 

“This camp has been extremely beneficial in that it offered us the opportunity to fine-tune the fundamentals of our game, build greater alignment in terms of our structures and get the players back into shape after a well-deserved rest period. 

“There’s a little over six months left before the international showpiece and we need to make every minute count on and off the field to ensure we achieve the goals we set out and peak at the right time.” 

The Springboks will kick off the international season against Australia in Pretoria on July 8 in the opening round of the shortened Rugby Championship. 

It will be followed by clashes against New Zealand at the Mount Smart Stadium in Auckland a week later and Argentina in Johannesburg on July 29, their final match on home soil for the year. 

The Boks will then make the journey to Buenos Aires in August to take on the Pumas, before facing Wales and the All Blacks in RWC warm-up matches in Cardiff and London in the final build-up to France. 

South Africa will launch their RWC title defence on September 10 against Scotland in Marseille, followed by Romania in Bordeaux (September 17), Ireland in Paris (September 23) and Tonga in Marseille (October 1).