Cape Town – After hosting just 14 players at a three-week training camp, Springbok coach Jacques Nienaber has called on a number of Stormers stars for a second gathering this weekend.
The national team completed their camp in Stellenbosch on Friday with mainly established Test players, which was described as a ‘physical and development camp.
All of captain Siya Kolisi, Steven Kitshoff, Frans Malherbe, Thomas du Toit, Eben Etzebeth, Marvin Orie, Ox Nche, Bongi Mbonambi, Jaden Hendrikse, Makazole Mapimpi, Canan Moodie, Lukhanyo Am, Kurt-Lee Arendse and Damian Willemse wrapped things up on Friday and will enjoy the weekend off, before rejoining their United Rugby Championship franchises on Monday.
But Nienaber has announced that eight other players will be in Cape Town for two days of “off-field sessions” on Saturday and Sunday – Stormers’ Joseph Dweba (hooker), Deon Fourie (utility forward), Evan Roos (No 8), Herschel Jantjies (scrumhalf) and Manie Libbok (flyhalf), as well as Bulls duo Marco van Staden (flank) and Sbu Nkosi (wing) and Sharks halfback Grant Williams.
Libbok and Fourie in particular might have felt unlucky to miss out on the three-week camp, considering their outstanding form for their Cape franchise this season, but now they have an opportunity to soak up all the necessary information from the Bok management before staking further claims for selection in the closing stages of the URC and Champions Cup.
Powerful No 8 Roos has been laid low by injury over the last few months, so the Bok camp is a welcome development as a reminder that he is still in the World Cup mix.
“We’ve planned to host alignment sessions – some in person such as at these two camps, and others online with the overseas-based players – to ensure that everyone is on the same page in terms of what is expected of them, where we are as a team and the areas of our game that we would like to improve,” Nienaber said on Friday.
“With the players we are actively tracking being scattered around the country and the world, it means we need to be innovative in the way we interact with them. But the most important factor is that we have regular communication with them as we work toward the Rugby World Cup.
“The players attending the sessions over the weekend have been participating in the United Rugby Championship, so we are pleased to get this opportunity to work with them face-to-face.”
The 14 players who completed the three-week training camp on Friday will be available for selection in the URC for the next fixtures on the weekend of March 24-25, and they will look to ramp up their performances heading into the playoffs before the first Bok Test of the year against the Wallabies on July 8 at Loftus Versfeld in the Rugby Championship.
The final 33-man World Cup squad will be announced on Tuesday, August 8.
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“We were fortunate to have this camp. It was crucial from a rest, rugby and development perspective for the players,” Nienaber said.
“The focus during this period was to develop their physical capabilities as well as their fundamental skills, and the players will now return to their franchises for the closing stages of the URC and the Champions Cup.
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“It was excellent in the sense that we had on-field sessions and off-field alignment sessions, which allowed us to analyse where the game is at this point and what we have to work on, and we were pleased to see the collaboration between the coaches and players.
“We’ll now keep a close eye on how the players kick on from this and implement what they learned at franchise level.”
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