Boks camp ends in Cape Town: ‘We must continue to evolve,’ says Rassie

Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus said Friday it was important that the two-time world champions continued to evolve to stay ahead of their competitors as the year’s second alignment camp came to a conclusion in Cape Town on Friday.

The national coaching team have now held two alignments camps ahead of the year’s international fixtures, which include matches in July against Italy and Georgia. The Boks also again take on Argentina, Australia and New Zealand in the Rugby Championship later in the year before wrapping up the season’s fixtures with a four-game tour of Europe in November.

The two-day camp in Cape Town featured a series of boardroom sessions and an optional gym session on Friday, while a bunch of overseas-based players joined the boardroom sessions virtually.

The players also participated in a series of virtual training sessions to familiarise themselves with the new structures.

The season gets underway in a little over a month when the Boks play a non-Test against a Barbarians team in Cape Town.

‘Remain a force at top level’

“We are fast approaching the international season, and although most of the players have big matches lined up in their respective competitions before we assemble at our training camp in June, we were pleased with what transpired at the first and second alignment camps, and we believe we are on the right track in terms of our preparations and planning for the season,” said Erasmus.

“The coaches have been working tirelessly to improve our structures to ensure that we can improve on our performances last season, and it was great to see how the players responded to the adaptations and changes we have made to our structures.

“We have said time and time again that we have to continue to evolve to remain a force at the top level of the game, and although we are under no illusions about the challenging season ahead, we are pleased with the progress we have been making off the field, and we are really looking forward to the season ahead.”

Newcomers to the squad

Erasmus was also pleased to see the enthusiasm among the new players in the group – Vincent Tshituka, Ntokozo Makhaza, and Juarno Augustus, who tuned in virtually from England – and he believed that this experience would benefit them immensely to grow even further in their careers.

“They are all very talented players, and it was evident how proud they were to have this opportunity to rub shoulders with this group of players, some of whom have been with us since 2018, and to learn from them and the coaches,” said the Bok coach.

Erasmus will name his squad for the June training camp in the next few weeks.