The Springboks added an extra week of training before the Castle Lager Rugby Championship to ensure there was enough detailed training that would allow them to defend their title from last season.
Coach Rassie Erasmus added that the team had put an extra week’s training in Johannesburg this week to ensure the move from a larger squad to a smaller one pays dividends - as working with the larger group wasn’t always conducive to getting the detail done during the Incoming Tours series.
Erasmus explained that while there wasn’t too much unhappiness with the way the tests against Italy and Georgia turned out, the Boks now needed to knuckle down as the challenge ramps up for the Rugby Championship.
Erasmus added that the Bok coaches would never be “100 per cent” happy with the outcome of the games, but that made it more focused for these weeks leading up to the matches against Australia.
“Well, I think when I look at it, I don't think one's ever 100 per cent satisfied. I think if you just look at the scoreboard, you know, 200 points for and 20 or whatever, 40 against us, then you'll probably say that's not too bad,” Erasmus said.
“But I think we always knew having such a big squad in the beginning, it will be tough. Obviously, for the training sessions, we really, really ramped it up and tried to get the intensity up there. We really felt that the whole squad out of 45 or 45 plus, which we had in, really did well there.
POSITIVES IN THE LONG RUN
“But we always knew we'd never worked with such a big squad. And we always knew that the positive will be if you do get in the Rugby Championships or end of year tour, you have injuries three deep in a position and now you know the next player is comfortable with the systems.
“Working with such a big group, you will be able to play, but you do lose a bit of attention individually. I don't want to say one-on-one. That sounds weird, but more, you know, small detail because you have to rotate different locks and different scrumhalves and centres and so on.”
Erasmus added that with the smaller group, the extra week devoted to detail is a good thing.
“We just felt we needed this week for the benefit that we got out of the bigger squad. We felt we still needed this one week to make sure that these 37 guys, who are in camp now, are where we want them to be because there's always a down part in having a big squad. The big positive part is everybody knows our structures and when we call on them or when we rotate the squad, maybe for the All Blacks games again, those guys can slot in easily.
EIGHT WEEKS PREPARATION BEFORE RUGBY CHAMPS
Erasmus added they were happy with the physicality they got out of the Incoming tours.
“We would have eight weeks of proper preparation before we take the field in the Rugby Championship, and we are pleased with the physicality that Italy and Georgia brought against us in the last few weeks. We have another three weeks to prepare for the matches against Australia, so we’ll be working hard on the training field in the next few weeks.”
“We always knew that our first few matches would not be as tough as the Rugby Championship, even though the opposition was competitive and physical, but we are now going up against teams with solid game plans and a different intensity.
“Australia would have also come off the British & Irish Lions Series by the time we face them, so it will be a challenging tournament.”