Springboks settle in Auckland ahead of back-to-back All Blacks Tests

The Springboks are currently experiencing something more challenging than a Test match against the All Blacks on New Zealand soil.

What could be worse? Jet lag! 

For those who have not experienced this condition, be assured, it’s brutal. Because you find yourselves a few time zones away from home, in a short period of time, your body clock is slow to readjust.

This means walking around with a head full of cotton wool during the day, and going to bed exhausted at, let’s say 10 pm, then – after tossing and turning for a while – you fall into a deep sleep, and wake up feeling rested and refreshed, only to glance over at your watch, and realise that it’s only 1.50 am.

And sleep eludes you till your eyelids get heavy at 5.45 am, just before you should get up … and the process repeats itself. So for a travelling sports team, especially an elite rugby team, jet lag management is vital.

In high spirits and excited

All that said, the Boks arrived in Auckland close to midnight local time on Wednesday in high spirits and excited about the challenge of facing their arch-rivals, the All Blacks, in back-to-back Test matches in the Castle Lager Rugby Championship in the next three weeks.

The Boks made the long journey from South Africa to Auckland on Tuesday via Sydney, and will have a gym session and recovery day on Thursday, where they will hopefully shake the cobwebs out of their heads, before taking the field for their first training session on Friday.

The Boks will battle it out with the All Blacks at Eden Park on Saturday, September 6, and at the Sky Stadium in Wellington a week later on September 13.

They will then return to South Africa to face Argentina in Durban on Saturday, September 27, before wrapping up their campaign against the Pumas in London on October 4.

“We travelled well, and although it’s a long trip to New Zealand, we are excited to be here and we are looking forward to the challenge ahead,” said Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus.

“It’s always tough playing here, but the group is in good spirits, and we are fully aware of the magnitude of the task ahead.

Rugby Championship Table is tight

“With all four teams in the Castle Lager Rugby Championship having won one match so far and the standings very tight at this stage, there’s no doubt that the next two games will be crucial in our campaign, so it’s good that we travelled early in the week.

“The time zone and conditions are obviously very different from back home, so it’s important that we acclimatise and settle in as quickly as possible to ensure that we are sharp at training and ready to be at our best by the time we face the All Blacks next weekend.”

With a week and a half to prepare for the first match, Erasmus said managing the players effectively in the next few days was essential to get the best out of them on the field.

“We’ve worked out our training schedule this week in a way that would allow the players to recover from the two physical matches against Australia, while at the same time steadily get into the swing of things for the next two matches,” said Erasmus.

“So, we will have only two training sessions this week and then go full throttle into normal Test match mode from Monday.”

Both matches will kick off at 9.05 am (SA time).