The Springboks arrived in Jersey in excessive spirits on Monday eager to get their preparations underway for the Outgoing Tour.
They are going to be based mostly on the Channel Island between England and France for a week-long coaching camp earlier than departing for Scotland for his or her opening Check of the November internationals.
The Rugby Championship title holders will face Scotland in Edinburgh (Sunday 10 November), England in London (Saturday 16 November) and Wales in Cardiff (Saturday 23 November) on their conventional end-of-year tour.
Andy Edwards, the Springboks’ head of athletic efficiency, was excited concerning the coaching camp on the scenic island, and mentioned it was the proper vacation spot to get the workforce’s preparations going forward of what’s set to be a tricky tour towards three contemporary opponents.
“It’s our first time collectively after the Rugby Championship, and with the gamers doing various things over the previous few weeks, it’s good to get again collectively and regroup,” mentioned Edwards.
“The Vodacom URC gamers had a mixture of down time with others taking part in, and the UK and European-based gamers are additionally again from their golf equipment, whereas the Japanese gamers had been on a break.
“The primary factor is to get again into the swing of issues by way of what the coaches need to do planning clever, and tightening issues up once more earlier than the November internationals.
“With us being in Jersey, which is near the UK, it can actually make the transition simpler for the gamers forward of the November tour.”
Commenting on the coaching camp in a brand new location, Edwards mentioned: “Jersey has every thing we want, and it’s near the UK, particularly with us heading to Scotland subsequent, so there received’t be issues round long-haul journey going into the primary Check, which is an enormous optimistic.
“It’s additionally a small island and provides us a possibility to expertise one thing totally different.
“I don’t suppose anybody on this group has been to Jersey earlier than, and over and above that, they’ve world-class amenities which can be only some years outdated, which ticks all of the bins for our high-performance wants with a terrific gymnasium and fields.
“The L’Horizon Lodge (the place the Boks are based mostly) appears out onto the ocean, so from a workforce perspective we will push laborious by way of rugby depth, whereas additionally attaining the stability of down time and social cohesion earlier than the Exams.”
Edwards added: “With some guys having been within the UK with their Vodacom URC groups, they’ve already acclimatised to the climate situations within the northern hemisphere, however for the gamers who’ve been in South Africa, it’s good to get them used to the situations right here.”
The gamers based mostly in South Africa over the weekend made the in a single day journey from Johannesburg on to London on Sunday night time and had a short transit at Heathrow Airport earlier than taking a brief 40-minute flight to Jersey.
The remainder of the travelling contingent arrived from Venice, Montpellier, Bathtub, Leicester and Dublin respectively.
The gamers had Monday off to relaxation and get well from the journey to Jersey, with the squad set to start their on-field preparations on Tuesday.
Photograph: Steve Haag Sports activities/Gallo Photos
