VIDEO: Boks' juggling act to play two Tests in one week
NEWS: A small group of Springbok players will travel to New Zealand before the Test against Australia with the balance of the group earmarked for the Test in Auckland, around 15 or so, set to leave after the Australia Test on July 8 at Loftus Versfeld.
Juggling two teams that will play Australia and New Zealand in the space of one week is challenging, but the Springbok management has made ample plans which include booking extra flights to ensure both teams get proper preparation ahead of time.
The second Test against New Zealand is on July 15 in the Mount Smart Stadium in Auckland.
SA’s Director of Rugby, Johan Erasmus, explained the intricate planning that went into utilising two different teams for the two Test matches which will see a small group of players leave for New Zealand on either Tuesday, July 4 or Wednesday, July 5.
“We’ve made sure that we booked enough spaces on Tuesday and Wednesday next week to make sure that the team facing Australia is not underdone in terms of opposition [during training],” he explained.
“If we are happy by Tuesday, they will probably fly as soon as possible [on either one of those two days]. We are not going to take the full management team, and we are not going to take all 41 players to New Zealand.
“The first group is flying next week, and it still depends, it might not be 15, it might be 13 or 12. It depends on which players can handle playing here and there very well. Players are built differently and take different loads in games,” Erasmus said.
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Springbok coach Jacques Nienaber added: “It is nice to have the big squad because you can go 15 v 15 [in training]. The plan is to send them as early as possible or as late as possible so the team that will face Australia will have a proper Test preparation week.”
Erasmus also mentioned that players will only arrive in New Zealand on a Tuesday if they fly on Sunday and the decision on which players will leave after the Australia match, will depend a lot on what happens in that Test match.
“We need to see who did well, who got injured. Because the whole team is not going, we can’t take the whole management. Some have to stay behind.
“Three coaches will fly out on Saturday night after the game to be ready with that team on that side on Monday morning to start coaching them, and the rest of the management is then flying out with the rest of the players on the Sunday,” he confirmed.
The names of the coaches that will go early and who will travel after the Test against Australia, was not revealed.
