Boks park All Black win: 'The World Cup starts now'
South Africa will depart their pre-World Cup training camp on the Mediterranean island of Corsica on Saturday, heading to their French base in Toulon.
There they will step up their preparation for the opening match in defence of their World Cup title against Scotland in Marseille on September 10.
The core message from the Springbok camp is that any ‘successes’ this year will count for nothing at #France2023.
Despite the Rugby Championship reversal against the All Blacks in Auckland (a 20-35 loss), the Boks have grown in stature and composure – despite the frequent selection alterations.
It was at Twickenham last Friday, August 25, that Siya Kolisi’s Boks gave notice of the fact that they are coming together as an efficient team with an authentic chance of retaining their World Cup title.
They will also arrive in France with the elevated world ranking of No.2.
Bok scrumhalf Cobus Reinach, speaking at the team’s Corsica base, said they have not achieved anything yet.
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“The clash against New Zealand was good and every game is important,” Reinach said at the team’s Mediterranean training base.
“However, it doesn’t count for anything,” he added.
“The World Cup only starts now.
“Each game from now on is important.
“While we will take a lot of confidence out of the game, but there’s still a lot of work to be done.”
Flyhalf Manie Libbok echoed similar sentiments to his Bok teammate, saying they have put the New Zealand win behind them and are focusing on getting ready for the opening game against Scotland.
“It’s hot over here [in Corsica], but it’s good for our preparation because we are expecting similar conditions in Toulon.”
The reality of going to the World Cup is finally hitting home for the players.
“It has been a long wait, with a lot of games – the championship[ and the warm-up games,” Reinach said.
“The boys are very excited and very eager just to get started.
“You can see the energy is there in training.”
After the opening Pool B game against Scotland, South Africa faces Romania (Bordeaux, September 17), Ireland (Paris, September 23) and Tonga (Marseille, October 1) in their remaining pool matches.
Source: @Springboks
* Picture and video credit: @Springboks
