Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus mentioned his 33-member squad have been beaming with excitement for what he anticipates will probably be a difficult tour to Australia as they departed Down Under for the Rugby Championship late on Wednesday afternoon.
The Springboks will launch the 2024 version of the southern hemisphere collection towards the Wallabies on successive Saturdays (10 and 17 August) in Brisbane and Perth, respectively, and Erasmus was happy with the constructing blocks they put in place in the course of the Incoming Series and the final two days in Johannesburg the place they’d a two-day coaching camp earlier than departing for Australia.
“We had a few good field and gym sessions on Monday and Tuesday and some of the players come off a well-deserved rest, while the younger players are beaming with excitement about this tour, so we are travelling to Australia with good groundwork already in place, and hopefully that pays off,” mentioned Erasmus.
“We’ll arrive in Australia on Thursday and have training sessions on Friday and Saturday, so we’ll get straight into the swing of things as soon as possible to acclimatise to the conditions and environment and hit the ground running in the hope of getting off the tour to a good start.”
Springboks’ file in Australia ‘not ideal’
Commenting on what he anticipated from the Wallabies, Erasmus mentioned: “They are well coached team, and they have a new coach in Joe Schmidt, so they are a proper team. They also are also a very detailed focused, and they have a few new players who we haven’t really encountered before, so we have no doubt they’ll give everything.”
The double Rugby World Cup-winning coach admitted that whereas their observe file in Australia was not excellent, they don’t consider in excuses and can give their finest to sway their fortunes down below.
“We are playing against Australian team that have historically performed well at home, so we want to correct the mistakes we made in the last few games, and just as they would like to, we want to win both matches in Australia,” mentioned Erasmus.
“When Joe was the coach of Ireland I worked closely with him during my time at Munster, and he is a man with a great work ethic and who knows how to bring the best out of his players, so we know the magnitude of the challenge that lies ahead.”
Erasmus admitted that whereas there was strain on the group do flip issues round in Australia, they relished the problem.
“There was pressure on us in 2019, during the British & Irish Lions tour in 2021, and in the Rugby World Cup last year,” mentioned Erasmus.
“And we know that people expect us to win, but as always, we’ll give our best on the field and hopefully the rest will take care of itself.”
SPRINGBOK SQUAD FOR THE RUGBY CHAMPIONSHIP 2024
FORWARDS
Ben-Jason Dixon (Stormers), Pieter-Steph du Toit (Toyota Verblitz), Thomas du Toit (Bath), Eben Etzebeth (Hollywoodbets Sharks), Johan Grobbelaar (Bulls), Vincent Koch (Hollywoodbets Sharks), Siya Kolisi (captain – Racing 92), Elrigh Louw (Bulls), Frans Malherbe (Stormers), Malcolm Marx (Kubota Spears), Bongi Mbonambi (Hollywoodbets Sharks), Salmaan Moerat (Stormers), Ox Nche (Hollywoodbets Sharks), Ruan Nortje (Bulls), Kwagga Smith (Shizuoka Blue Revs), RG Snyman (Leinster), Gerhard Steenekamp (Bulls), Marco van Staden (Bulls), Jan-Hendrik Wessels (Bulls)
BACKS
Lukhanyo Am (Hollywoodbets Sharks), Kurt-Lee Arendse (Bulls), Damian de Allende (Wild Knights), Aphelele Fassi (Hollywoodbets Sharks), Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu (Stormers), Cheslin Kolbe (Suntory Sungoliath), Jesse Kriel (Canon Eagles), Willie le Roux (Bulls), Makazole Mapimpi (Hollywoodbets Sharks), Manie Libbok (Stormers), Handre Pollard (Leicester Tigers), Cobus Reinach (Montpellier), Morne van den Berg (Lions), Grant Williams (Hollywoodbets Sharks)
RUGBY CHAMPIONSHIP 2024 FIXTURES
The 2024 match will probably be contested over six rounds, with every nation taking part in six matches – three at residence and three away.
All occasions SA
Round 1 – August 10
Australia vs South Africa, Brisbane – 06:30
New Zealand vs Argentina, Wellington – 09:35
Round 2 – August 17
New Zealand vs Argentina, Auckland – 09:35
Australia vs South Africa, Perth – 11:45
Round 3 – August 31
South Africa vs New Zealand, Johannesburg – 17:00
Argentina vs Australia, La Plata – 21:00
Round 4 – September 7
South Africa vs New Zealand, Cape Town – 17:00
Argentina vs Australia, Santa Fe – 21:00
Round 5 – September 21
Australia vs New Zealand, Sydney – 07:45
Argentina vs South Africa, Santiago del Estero – 23:00
Round 6 – September 28
New Zealand vs Australia, Wellington – 09:05
South Africa vs Argentina, Mbombela – 17:00
