Springboks gear up for Rugby Championship title defence with eye on Wallabies clash

THERE’S an old story, maybe it’s a South African urban legend, but I once overheard someone tell it very convincingly, with real passion and conviction.

He said that the big Sunday meal tradition in South Africa came from the Anglo-Boer War, when the Boers would sometimes go home to their families for a week away from the front. Then, prior to their return to battle, the wife or mother would cook a big meal, with rice and roasts and stews and baked goods and puddings.

The intention was to treat their brave son, husband or father to a good home-cooked feast, but the other reason was that they could send him off with some provisions, seeing as he would be eating rations like biltong and biscuits for quite a while. Also, with a good meal in your body, you’d have fire in your belly and – according to the legend I heard – you’d be more effective on the field of battle.

I wonder if that legend was on Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus’s mind when he scheduled things so that the Springboks will wrap up the first week of their training camp on Thursday afternoon and spend the weekend with their families, before re-assembling in Johannesburg on Sunday to continue their on-field preparations.

Erasmus said on Tuesday that the team were gearing up for a testing Castle Lager Rugby Championship campaign, which kicks off against the Wallabies next weekend, on Saturday, August 16 in Johannesburg, and stressed the importance of their two-week training camp, saying it was vital in ensuring that the coaches, players, and entire management team were aligned, sharp, and prepared for the competition.

The Boks will begin their campaign with back-to-back Tests against the Wallabies in Johannesburg and Cape Town, before facing the All Blacks in successive matches in Auckland and Wellington, before returning to Durban to face Argentina, and then travel to London, where they will wrap up their campaign against Los Pumas.

It’s worth noting that the Springboks are the defending champions and will have a target on their backs after they won the prestigious tournament last year for the first time since 2019 in an impressive campaign in which they suffered only one defeat – against a motivated Argentina team by a single point in Santiago del Estero.

Of course, as defending champions, they will go full-out to show that last year’s impressive run was no fluke, and they will be out to retain the Freedom Cup (against New Zealand) and Nelson Mandela Challenge Plate (against Australia) this year.

Erasmus said that they are aware of the varying challenges they will be facing from the different teams.

We are always careful about the opposition in the Castle Lager Rugby Championship,” said Erasmus. “Australia showed last weekend that they have what it takes to win a match against a team like the British and Irish Lions, and they have an opportunity to try to achieve that this weekend, so we are expecting tough battles against them, as well as New Zealand and Argentina.”

The Bok coach added, in reference to their warm-up against Italy and Georgia: “We always knew that our first few matches would not be as tough as the Castle Lager 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.”

He said that the Wallabies would be especially dangerous, since they would have been toughened up by the Lions Tests.

“Australia would have also come off the British and Irish Lions Series by the time we face them, so it will be a challenging tournament.”

Springboks Castle Lager Rugby Championship fixtures:

16 August (5.10pm): SA vs Australia – Ellis Park, Johannesburg

23 August (5.10pm): SA vs Australia – DHL Stadium, Cape Town

6 September (9.05am): New Zealand vs SA – Eden Park, Auckland 

13 September (9.05am): New Zealand vs SA – Sky Stadium, Wellington

27 September (5.10pm): SA vs Argentina – Hollywoodbets Kings Park, Durban

4 October (3pm): Argentina vs SA – Allianz Stadium, Twickenham, London