A big Test match awaits Rassie Erasmus and his Boks, against England at Ellis Park.
Bok player Damian Willemse in training this week. Picture: Lefty Shivambu/Gallo Images
The Springboks wrapped up their Nations Championship training camp in Johannesburg on Thursday, and will go into Test mode from Monday when the players join up again after getting the weekend off.
The Boks will face England at Ellis Park next Saturday in the first of three Nations Championship Tests on home soil in July.
They will also face Scotland (11 July, Pretoria) and Wales (18 July, Durban).
The Boks warmed up for the long international season with a match against the Barbarians last weekend. An SA A team was also in action, against Zimbabwe.
Bok boss Rassie Erasmus subsequently named a 46-man training group for the Nations Championship, though he has said players will come and go throughout the season, meaning the squad could change next week and the weeks thereafter.
Erasmus said he was satisfied that the necessary building blocks were in place ahead of next weekend’s Test.
“We had a productive training week, which afforded us the opportunity to work on the learnings we took from our matches against the Barbarians and Zimbabwe, so it was certainly a valuable week for the team,” said Erasmus.
“England are a quality outfit, and they will present a completely different challenge to that which we faced against the Barbarians, as they are a settled squad and come off a Six Nations campaign, but we are pleased that we had the opportunity to give our players invaluable game time before the Nations Championship begins.
“The team is aligned on the expectations and standards going into the competition, and we are pleased with the hard work they put in this week, so we are ready to get the international season into full swing next week.”
The match at Ellis Park next Saturday kicks off at 5.40pm.
