Director of Rugby Rassie Erasmus and Springbok coach Jacques Nienaber are both looking forward to touching base with players in the wider Springbok group.
Erasmus and Nienaber are acting as the commissioners of the Springbok Showdown, Green and Gold squads.
Erasmus excited to get the band back together
The event and preparation for the match will be the first time the national team coaches have directly interacted with the players since the 2019 Rugby World Cup triumph.
“During lockdown, Jacques and his assistant coaches kept in touch with the players by means of regular virtual meetings,” said Erasmus.
“However, nothing beats that feeling of being back in an actual team environment. Apart from the few training activities, which will not be heavily loaded, we will also spend a lot of time on aligning the players in both squads regarding our team objectives for the Springbok Showdown.
“Everyone are excited to be together again and we are looking forward to working with the players in the build-up to Saturday’s match.”
Training begins on Monday
Nienaber said there is a great buzz from the players joining the squads and says he is looking forward to seeing the best SA-based players go head-to-head at Newlands.
“It was fantastic to see the excitement on the players’ faces for this occasion when they arrived at the hotel and it certainly bodes well for a great showdown on Saturday,” Jacques Nienaber, Springbok head coach and Gold team commissioner.
“One could sense the excitement and camaraderie among the Rugby World Cup-winning players to be back together for the first time since lifting the Webb Ellis Cup last year, while the new players and young guns were in great spirits and thrilled to be part of the national set-up.
“This week is going to be different for us due to the strict COVID-19 safety protocols, but fortunately the players have all been exposed to these safety guidelines at their provincial unions in the last few weeks.
“It is clear that everyone is excited to get into the swing of things when we begin our on-field training on Monday.”
The teams will kick off the week’s activities with some gym work on Monday morning, followed by light field sessions in the afternoon.
Deon Davids and Mzwandile Stick, the respective coaches of the Gold and Green squads, will announce their matchday squads on Wednesday afternoon.
After the Super Fan Saturday double-header the players gathered in Cape Town on Sunday for team meetings and COVID-19 safety briefings.
