LIAM DEL CARME | Not everyone in alignment with Bok camps

The significance of alignment camps has been the topic of much debate since SA Rugby announced a group of 43 players who cracked invites to a two-day gathering in Cape Town next week.

While the invite does not guarantee selection for the Springboks, it does provide a hint that the invitees are at the very least blipping on the national selectors’ radar.

Of course the announcement of the group that includes 39 domestic and four players based in Japan, provided commentators and scribes much to mull over. The names omitted from the group naturally drew attention.

However, Bok coach Rassie Erasmus in a tweet warned about the dangers of overstating the role alignment camps play in team selection. He stressed that those who will be in attendance at the camps are not the only domestic players who will be considered for Bok selection.

The three camps this year carry particular significance as the Boks start a fresh cycle on their journey to the 2027 Rugby World Cup in Australia.

They will be particularly useful for the uninitiated. They can, however, also be counter productive for franchise coaches who want to keep their players rooted and wholly invested in the interest of the team.

You don’t have to try to become a rock star or a super star overnight. You have been picked for a reason. They see certain qualities in you.

—  Bulls director of rugby Jake White

Alignment camps can have some unintended consequences.

“To be fair one shouldn't’ read too much into alignment camps,” offered Bulls director of rugby Jake White sagely.

“A lot of boys have been going to alignment camps for the last three years and never played,” White pointed out.

White, an elder statesman in South Africa’s collective coaching box, advised players should focus on the things they’ve been doing well at their franchises. “You don’t have to try to become a rock star or a super star overnight. You have been picked for a reason. They see certain qualities in you.”

He admitted the Bulls have not managed players returning from alignment camps as judiciously as they perhaps should have.

“They come back thinking they have to play extraordinarily well to get the nod. That burnt us a bit.

“You may get a guy who may not be good at certain things but thinks if he does it well in big games then he is going to get noticed. That’s probably the wrong time to do it.

“We’ve seen guys in these big games trying to make a statement. It is not in their skill set.”

White used backrower Elrigh Louw as an example.

“It is almost like he wanted to play like someone he’s not. Offloading and running down the wing. Doing things that he doesn’t do every week, so that he could be earmarked.

“My concern is for new guys who feel on one Saturday against the Stormers they can play themselves into a [Bok] team. For me it is far more important what we do as a collective as a Bulls squad.”

Alignment camps serve a clear purpose. Uncapped players get an opportunity to familiarise themselves with the ins and outs of how the Springboks operate. They also get a clear idea of a potential path into Test rugby.

For the more established players it is an opportunity to impart knowledge but also assimilate whatever changes there may be in operational structure or playing style.

Alignment camps have by and large served the Springboks well in the Erasmus era. It is, however, ultimately up to individual players what they make of the opportunity at the camp and how rookies manage their slightly elevated status thereafter.

In some ways an invite to a camp may reveal more about a player than he’d ordinarily care to expose.