Building blocks laid as Boks switch into Nations Championship mode

The Springboks wrapped up their Nations Championship training camp in Johannesburg on Thursday and Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus was satisfied that the necessary building blocks were in place as the squad prepares to switch into full Test mode before next week’s competition opener against England at Ellis Park.

Erasmus’ charges travelled from Gqeberha to Johannesburg last Sunday and had a productive training week, which wrapped up on Thursday afternoon. The players will spend the weekend with their families and reassemble at their training base in Johannesburg on Sunday to begin their official Test-week preparations.

The Test against England will kick off at 17h40 on Saturday, 4 July, and will be broadcast live on SuperSport.

“We had a productive training week, which afforded us the opportunity to work on the learnings we took from our matches against the Barbarians and Zimbabwe, so it was certainly a valuable week for the team,” said Erasmus.

“England are a quality outfit and they will present a completely different challenge to that which we faced against the Barbarians, as they are a settled squad and come off a Six Nations campaign but we are pleased that we had the opportunity to give our players invaluable game time before the Nations Championship begins.

“The team is aligned on the expectations and standards going into the competition and we are pleased with the hard work they put in this week, so we are ready to get the international season into full swing next week.”

The England match will be followed by clashes against Scotland at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday, 11 July, and Wales at Hollywoodbets Kings Park in Durban on 18 July.

Springbok squad for the Nations Championship

Props: Thomas du Toit (Bath), Wilco Louw (Vodacom Bulls), Ntuthuko Mchunu (DHL Stormers), Ox Nche (Hollywoodbets Sharks), Zachary Porthen (DHL Stormers), Carlu Sadie (Bordeaux Begles), Gerhard Steenekamp (Vodacom Bulls), Boan Venter (Edinburgh).

Hookers: Johan Grobbelaar (Vodacom Bulls), Malcolm Marx (Kubota Spears), Andre-Hugo Venter (DHL Stormers).

Locks: Lood de Jager (Wild Knights), Eben Etzebeth (Hollywoodbets Sharks), Ruan Nortje (Vodacom Bulls), Ruben van Heerden (DHL Stormers).

Loose forwards: Paul de Villiers, Ben-Jason Dixon (both DHL Stormers), Cameron Hanekom (Vodacom Bulls), Siya Kolisi (Hollywoodbets Sharks), Evan Roos (DHL Stormers), Vincent Tshituka (Hollywoodbets Sharks), Jasper Wiese (Urayasu D-Rocks).

Utility forwards: Pieter-Steph du Toit (Toyota Verblitz), Franco Mostert (Honda Heat), Riley Norton (DHL Stormers), Marco van Staden, Jan-Hendrik Wessels, Cobus Wiese (all Vodacom Bulls).

Scrumhalves: Embrose Papier (Vodacom Bulls), Herschel Jantjies (Bayonne), Cobus Reinach (DHL Stormers), Grant Williams (Hollywoodbets Sharks).

Flyhalves: Manie Libbok (Kintetsu Liners), Vusi Moyo (Hollywoodbets Sharks), Handre Pollard (Vodacom Bulls).

Centres: Damian de Allende (Wild Knights), Andre Esterhuizen (Hollywoodbets Sharks), Jesse Kriel (Canon Eagles).

Outside and utility backs: Kurt-Lee Arendse (Vodacom Bulls), Aphelele Fassi (Hollywoodbets Sharks), Quan Horn (Fidelity Securedrive Lions), Cheslin Kolbe (Tokyo Sungoliath), Canan Moodie (Vodacom Bulls), Edwill van der Merwe, Jaco Williams (Hollywoodbets Sharks), Damian Willemse (DHL Stormers).