Erasmus to stay behind as Boks tour

The fact that Springbok Director of Rugby, Rassie Erasmus, has stayed in South Africa while his team has travelled to Australia has left many scratching their heads. 

The Boks are in a strong position in the competition, having put Los Pumas down twice in SA before embarking on their tour in which they will meet old foes, the Wallabies and All Blacks.  

“Rassie has decided to remain in South Africa, for now, to allow the focus around the team to remain on the Rugby Championship and the team itself so that they can perform to the best of their ability on the field,” said Head Coach Jacques Nienaber. 

“He will continue to play an active role in our team and coaches meetings throughout the tour and, schedule permitting, he may join us later on.” 

The Springboks’ first assignment will be the Wallabies on the Gold Coast. 

“The players had a few days off to rest mentally and recover physically from the demanding start to the season, so we are excited to make this trip to Australia and to get back onto the park for the next leg of the competition,” Nienaber continued. 

“When we arrive in Australia we will be in quarantine for two weeks, although we will be allowed to train at specific times of the day, and then we enter a challenging block of four back-to-back Tests against Australia and New Zealand. It is important that we get back into our Test-week routine as quickly as possible. We have two weeks to adapt to the time zone and conditions due to our mandatory quarantine period and combined with proper on-field preparations, it will bode well for the team before the first match. 

“This extra time will also be valuable for the players nursing niggles to recover fully. All of the players should be available for selection for the first Test against Australia, so the coaches will be in a good position in terms of squad selection when we begin our preparations for those matches.”