Bok alignment camps: Five boxes for Rassie to tick
There are less than 90 days to go before the British and Irish Lions arrive in South Africa and there is a ton of work that needs to be done to get the Boks ready.
Rassie Erasmus and Jacques Nienaber will name the Springbok squad of 45 to face the touring Lions on Saturday. Picture: Steve Haag/Gallo Images
What is Director of Rugby at SA Rugby Rassie Erasmus hoping to gain from the national alignment camps he is currently conducting?
Erasmus and Springbok coach Jacques Nienaber, and other members of the Boks’ management team, stopped over at the Lions and Bulls on Tuesday and Wednesday, and on Thursday and Friday it was the turn of the Sharks, while on Monday they’ll visit the Stormers and on Wednesday the Cheetahs.
Here Rudolph Jacobs lists five things the Bok brains-trust will want to achieve with their trip around the country.
Getting everyone on the same page
While Erasmus and Nienaber have been keeping tabs on the leading players for the last 15 months, it’s imperative to meet up again in a team environment to discuss the busy year ahead, which includes the British and Irish Lions tour, the Rugby Championship and the end-of-the-year tour.
But it’s not just about the players, as Erasmus wants to make sure they are aligned with the different coaches, medical staff and conditioning teams to monitor the players’ performances, injuries and general well-being and share with them his vision and planning process.
Keeping tabs on injured players
Several stars of the World Cup winning effort of 2019 have been injured over the last few months, including No 8 Duane Vermeulen, flyhalf Handre Pollard, locks Lood de Jager and RG Snyman, flyhalf Elton Jantjies and captain and flank Siya Kolisi.
While Bok consultant Felix Jones is keeping abreast of the overseas players based in the United Kingdom, France and Japan, it’s important for Erasmus to establish where in the recovery process everyone is. Jantjies, Vermeulen and Kolisi, for instance, have recovered, but others like Pollard, Snyman and De Jager might be in a race against time to be ready for the Lions.
A preview to the training camps
Nienaber stressed that the players who are part of the alignment camps would be given a lot of technical detail to absorb before the training camps commence at a later stage. It is not yet known when these training camps will be held but with the Boks having not played Test rugby since the World Cup, getting everyone on a training ground sooner rather than later is going to be crucial.
The Bok brains-trust might even accompany the four Super teams when they depart for Europe on their away leg of the Rainbow Cup.
Integrating new players into the Bok culture
Erasmus has gone on record in the past as saying it is not always the best players who flourish in the Bok system but the players who buy into the Bok culture and excel in a team environment.
New players and those who haven’t been part of the Bok squad for a while could be roped in; men like centre Cornal Hendricks, flank Vincent Tshituka, prop Ox Nche, lock JD Schickerling and prop Carlu Sadie to name a few.
It will be important for these players to get up to speed with the Bok vision under Erasmus and Nienaber as quickly as possible.
Time is of the essence ahead of the Lions tour
Various factors like the delay in confirming the Lions tour and regulations around the Covid pandemic have left the Bok management with little time to prepare for the tourists.
Erasmus stressed that with less than 90 days to go before the tourists arrive in South Africa every day will be regarded as crucial. And it is not only the Test matches that the Bok brains-trust have to worry about, but possibly the other tour games as well, where several national team-linked players will be involved with. Here one thinks of the SA “A” side and the SA Invitation side.
