The Boks in a huddle. Photo: SA Rugby website
LATEST: Boks arrive in Australia after travel delay
The Boks have touched down in Adelaide on Saturday for the all-important away leg of the Rugby Championship.
The Boks in a huddle. Photo: SA Rugby website
The Boks’ travelling squad of 34 players assembled in Johannesburg early on Thursday afternoon and were set to fly to Adelaide via Sydney later that evening, but their plans were disrupted due to complications relating to the flight crew.
The Springboks were ultimately forced to delay their departure to Australia for the away leg of the Championship to Friday at midday following the unforeseen cancellation of their flight to Sydney.
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The Boks arrived in Sydney early on Saturday morning and then made the short trip to Adelaide – with a warm welcome from SA supporters awaiting the squad at the airport – where they will play their first of two Tests against the Wallabies at the Adelaide Oval on Saturday, 27 August.
The team wasted no time getting into the swing of things with a gym session lined up for Saturday afternoon and another Sunday, while they will resume full field training sessions on Monday.
South Africa face the Wallabies in their second Test in Sydney on Saturday, 3 September, before taking on Argentina in two Tests, in Buenos Aires (17 September) and Durban (24 September) respectively.
“The players rested well on the plane, and everyone is excited to be in Australia are looking forward to our two Tests against the Wallabies,” said Springbok coach Jacques Nienaber.
“I must commend our operational staff for the swift manner in which they dealt with the cancellation of our original flight and for making things as simple as possible for the team to hop onto the next available flight.
“The professional manner in which the situation was dealt with resulted in minimal disruption to our programme, which is certainly pleasing from a coaching perspective.”
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Nienaber added that the team will have flush-out gym sessions in the next two days to recover from the travel, and we will follow their usual Test week programme from tomorrow.
“This is going to be a massive week for us, and everyone understands the importance of ensuring that they recover as well as possible so that we can train full-out on Monday as we look to get our Rugby Championship campaign back on track.
“We haven’t beaten Australia at home since 2013, so we are under no illusions about the challenge that lies ahead. We will have to be at best to start our tour on a positive note.”
BOKS TOURING SQUAD:
Props
Steven Kitshoff (DHL Stormers)
Vincent Koch (Wasps)
Frans Malherbe (DHL Stormers)
Ox Nche (Cell C Sharks)
Trevor Nyakane (Racing 92)
Hookers
Joseph Dweba (DHL Stormers)
Malcolm Marx (Kubota Spears)
Locks
Eben Etzebeth (Cell C Sharks)
Lood de Jager (Wild Knights)
Salmaan Moerat (DHL Stormers)
Loose forwards
Pieter-Steph du Toit (Toyota Verblitz)
Siya Kolisi (Cell C Sharks)
Elrigh Louw (Vodacom Bulls)
Kwagga Smith (Shizuoka Blue Revs)
Jasper Wiese (Leicester Tigers)
Duane Vermeulen (Ulster)
Utility forwards
Deon Fourie (DHL Stormers)
Franco Mostert (Honda Heat)
Scrumhalves
Faf de Klerk (Canon Eagles)
Jaden Hendrikse (Cell C Sharks)
Herschel Jantjies (DHL Stormers)
Cobus Reinach (Montpellier)
Flyhalves
Elton Jantjies (NTT Docomo Red Hurricanes)
Handre Pollard (Leicester Tigers)
Midfielders
Lukhanyo Am (Cell C Sharks)
Damian de Allende (Wild Knights)
Andre Esterhuizen (Harlequins)
Outside backs
Makazole Mapimpi (Cell C Sharks)
Willie le Roux (Toyota Verblitz)
Canan Moodie (Vodacom Bulls)
Warrick Gelant (Racing 92)
Utility Backs
Damian Willemse (DHL Stormers)
Jesse Kriel (Canon Eagles)
Frans Steyn (Toyota Cheetahs)
