Why Boks feel 'at home' in Perth
It is the Boks' home away from home.
The Wallabies have won just four of their eight Rugby Championship (or Tri-Nations) encounters with the Boks in Perth and their biggest winning margin is just seven points.
One of the reasons Springboks feel at home in Perth is the rather large contingent of South Africans who now live there.
A 2016 census determined that almost 30,000 expatriates now live in Perth.
And there were a good number of them at the Boks' training session at the Hale School in Perth on Monday.
"It is good to see South Africans outside South Africa," Springbok flank Siyamthanda Kolisi said.
"It was nice to hear so many South African accents amongst the spectators," the loose forward said, adding: "It's always pleasing to get good support here in Perth and the boys enjoyed the interaction afterwards with the supporters.
"Hopefully they can turn up on Saturday as well, then we can see some Green and Gold jerseys in the crowd," he said of the Rugby Championship Round Three encounter with the Wallabies this coming Saturday.
* Meanwhile prop Ruan Dreyer arrived in Perth on Monday to complete the Bok squad.
The front row forward arrived at around midday at the team hotel, and joined his Springbok teammates shortly after lunch on the training field.
Dreyer's arrival in Perth capped a whirlwind week for the prop – who last week witnessed the birth of his first child and played for the Golden Lions in the Currie Cup before jetting out to Australia.
"Blessed and very grateful," Dreyer, a man of few words, replied when he was asked to describe his experiences over the past few days.
His wife, Zonika, gave birth to baby Anru last Tuesday, just a day after he had returned from Argentina, where the Springboks defeated Los Pumas in Salta.
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