JOHANNESBURG. – Rassie Erasmus and his squad wrapped up two days of training in Johannesburg on Saturday as the Springboks vs All Blacks series draws closer, with the Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry (RGR) series presented by Castle Double Malt opening at 10bet Ellis Park next Saturday.
Read more: Springboks beat Argentina 17-10 as Erasmus praises character
Squad recovers after Buenos Aires Test
The travelling Springbok squad of 26 players and a host of coaches returned to South Africa in two groups on Monday night and Tuesday, and spent most of the week on flush-out and gym sessions to get back into the local time zone after the physical 17-10 win over Los Pumas.
The players returned to the training field on Friday and had another field session on Saturday before taking the next day and a half off to spend time with their families ahead of a full Test week.
Bok hooker Johan Grobbelaar and utility forward Elrigh Louw, who have been released to play for the Vodacom Bulls in their RGR match against the All Blacks on Friday evening, rejoin the national squad on Sunday.
Springboks vs All Blacks series runs over four Tests
The teams play four back-to-back Tests against New Zealand, starting at 10bet Ellis Park on 22 August, before moving to the DHL Stadium in Cape Town on 29 August, the FNB Stadium in Johannesburg on 5 September and the M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore on 12 September, where the Springbok series concludes.
The opening match kicks off at 17h10 next Saturday and will be broadcast live on SuperSport.
Erasmus on the RGR challenge
Erasmus said preparation for the Springboks vs All Blacks series was managed carefully after the trip to Argentina.
“It was important to manage the players who travelled to Argentina well and afford them sufficient time to recover from the match and switch back into the domestic time zone, which is why we only started training as a full group late in the week,” Erasmus said in a press release to The Daily Pod.
“But we are pleased that the players are well recovered and ready to give everything for the forthcoming Tests against the All Blacks.”
“It will undoubtedly be a very challenging tournament, but we are looking forward to it as a collective. This series is almost like playing the knock-out stages of a Rugby World Cup because we are facing one of the world’s best week in and week out, and we all understand the magnitude of the RGR series.”
“It’s a new and exciting challenge, and we have been putting in a lot of work behind the scenes, especially the group of coaches and players who remained behind in South Africa in the last two weeks, so we will finetune the areas of our game, which we would like to improve next week as we get ready to take the field.”
* Press release.
