WATCH | Boks get fan-tastic response from 8,000 crowd while training in Toulon

They usually train behind closed doors hidden by a canvas strip that runs around the perimeter of the field — but on Thursday the Springboks stepped out into the open to receive a rousing welcome at a sunlit Stade Felix Mayol in Toulon.

About 8,000 spectators attended their open training session at the home ground of RC Toulon, mainly primary school pupils from the port city. The children filled the east pavilion, the biggest stand in Stade Mayol, which has a capacity of just more than 17,000.

The decibels would have gone through the roof, had there been one, when the Boks made their entrance between the south and east stands.

“This is absolutely fantastic,” enthused coach Jacques Nienaber. “They have been so wonderful to us, the people of Toulon and the club.

“When we were still in the planning phases for the World Cup the club indicated they wanted to turn their pitch into a 5G surface but they asked us what we'd prefer. We said turf and they said 'fine', they'd [wait and] relay the surface afterwards. That was so considerate,” Nienaber said.

The Boks went through their warm-up routines amid an almost carnival atmosphere without centre Damian de Allende, who is nursing an ankle injury. Word is he will be fine for the quarterfinal, should the Boks, who play Tonga on Sunday, qualify.

Every time Cheslin Kolbe, an instant hit in these parts thanks to his heroics for RC Toulon, touched the ball, the crowd was in raptures. Kolbe, of course, is part of a strong lineage of South African-born players who have donned the red of RC Toulon.

Boks Joe van Niekerk, Bryan Habana, Danie Rossouw, Juan Smith, Bakkies Botha and Victor Matfield called Toulon home. Now you can almost taste the boerewors in the bouillabaisse.

The South African who started the strong association with the club was the Cape Town-born Eric Melville, who went on to play six games for France.

A fellow member of the legendary Toulon team that won the French Championship in 1992, their third of four titles, was Michel Périé. Monsieur Périé was rather moved by what he witnessed at Stade Mayol on Thursday.

“It is great promotion for rugby because there are lots of young rugby enthusiasts here,” he remarked. “It's also great that the South African players go to the young people afterwards to mingle.

“Many young people play rugby in school and there is a lot of interaction with coaches and teachers in answering questions about the game.

“This interaction with the Springboks, however, is even better for those young players in that they experience practical examples of how things are done. They get to observe the champions of the world.”

Périé, too, played for France and though never in a Test against the Springboks he literally had a first-hand account of the South African national team. He played for a Provence-Côte d'Azur XV against the Springboks on their first tour after the shackles of sporting isolation were broken in 1992.

Asked what he remembered of that game in Marseille, Périé grinned ruefully while balling his right hand into a fist. “Caputo, caputo!” he said before explaining he was knocked out and only came to an hour later.

Melville died of a heat attack in 2017 just short of his 56th birthday. Périé is grateful the current crop of South Africans who are temporarily calling Toulon home are making a difference in the port city.

“This is the spirit of rugby,” said Périé about a sport that has long prided itself on extolling the virtues of fraternity.

“This is great to see in the professional era. I hope the game does not lose this spirit,” Périé said.