Siya Kolisi is making good progress in his recovery from knee surgery and is almost certain to lead the Boks in their World Cup opener against Scotland on September 10.
Johannesburg – Springbok captain Siya Kolisi says the Springboks are feeling the vibe as the world rugby marks 100 days to the World Cup in France.
Kolisi is making good progress in his recovery from knee surgery and is almost certain to lead the Boks in their World Cup opener against Scotland on 10 September.
“It’s unbelievable to think that it is almost four years since we lifted the Webb Ellis Cup in Japan. The players have been working hard to give us the best possible chance to defend our title,” Kolisi, speaking at the conclusion of the Boks’ training camp in Durban on Wednesday said.
“The memories of lifting the trophy, the emotional scenes of the fans waiting at the airport when we arrived home, and lining the streets countrywide on our trophy tour is unforgettable.
“And while we know this World Cup is going to be extremely challenging, we would love to experience that again and give the people of our country something to smile about.
“We have 100 days to get everything in place for the competition, and we’ll give everything to ensure that we are ready both physically and mentally.”
Siya Kolisi: “We have 100 days to get everything in place, and we’ll give everything to ensure that we are ready” – more here: https://t.co/ODG0V5kucp 🗣#StrongerTogether #RWC2023 #100DTG
— Springboks (@Springboks) May 31, 2023
Coach Jacques Nienaber is equally psyched up for France.
“Seeing the world-wide hype around the 100-day mark from the World Cup today was great and it was awesome to share that moment with the training squad,” Nienaber said.
“One can sense the urgency and excitement among the players to get the ball rolling full-time, which starts next month. We have a challenging journey ahead to the Rugby World Cup and we will do our best to defend our title.”
The Springbok squad will assemble in Pretoria next Sunday to prepare for their Rugby Championship campaign, which features three matches this season — against Australia at Loftus on 8 July, New Zealand in Auckland (15 July), and Argentina in Johannesburg (29 July).
This will be followed by three World Cup warm-up games against Argentina in Buenos Aires (5 August), Wales in Cardiff (19 August), and New Zealand in London (25 August) before travelling to Corsica for their one-week camp en route to Toulon for their opening World Cup fixture against Scotland.
Nienaber says the Durban training camp included field training sessions, gym sessions and team meetings.
“We are delighted with the foundation we put in place in at our two preparation camps in Durban and our alignment camps hosted in Cape Town and Stellenbosch earlier this year. We believe we have a strong basis to build from as we start preparing for the Rugby Championship,” Nienaber said.
“The players have been working very hard. They know what we expect from them as we gear up to the Test season. We were fortunate to have a manageable size training squad at this training camp, and it was fantastic to see the progress made by the injured players, who had another valuable opportunity to work face-to-face with our medical team.”
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