Rassie satisfied with Joburg training camp as big season kick-off against England looms

The Springboks wrapped up their Nations Championship training camp on Thursday with a vigorous session at the Johannesburg Stadium, with the big Test-season kick-off against England just days away.

Coach Rassie Erasmus has declared himself satisfied that the necessary building blocks are in place as the squad prepares to switch into full Test mode before next week’s competition opener against at Ellis Park.

Erasmus’ charges travelled from Gqeberha to Johannesburg last Sunday and had a productive training week, which wrapped up on Thursday afternoon. The players will spend the weekend with their families and reassemble at their training base in Johannesburg on Sunday to begin their official Test-week preparations.

The Test against England will kick off at 5.40pm on Saturday, 4 July, and will be broadcast live on SuperSport.

“We had a productive training week, which allowed us 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 England match will be followed by clashes against Scotland at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday, 11 July, and Wales at Kings Park in Durban on 18 July.