Rassie Erasmus: Springboks touch down in New Zealand ‘fully aware’ of the ‘magnitude’ of the task ahead
All Blacks back Rieko Ioane performs the Haka and an inset of Springboks boss Rassie Erasmus.
Rassie Erasmus says that the Springboks are ready to go ‘full throttle’ into their preparations for the back-to-back matches against the All Blacks.
The Boks touched down close to midnight local time in Auckland on Wednesday, having travelled via Sydney, and will begin their preparations on Thursday.
Springboks touch down in New Zealand
Erasmus named a 37-man squad for the two Tests in New Zealand and says the team is looking forward to the challenge of taking on the All Blacks at Eden Park and Sky Stadium.
“We travelled well, and although it’s a long trip to New Zealand, we are excited to be here and we are looking forward to the challenge ahead,” Erasmus told the Springboks’ official website.
“It’s always tough playing here, but the group is in good spirits, and we are fully aware of the magnitude of the task ahead.
“With all four teams in the Castle Lager Rugby Championship having won one match so far and the standings very tight at this stage, there’s no doubt that the next two games will be crucial in our campaign, so it’s good that we travelled early in the week.
“The time zone and conditions are obviously very different from back home, so it’s important that we acclimatise and settle in as quickly as possible to ensure that we are sharp at training and ready to be at our best by the time we face the All Blacks next weekend.”
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Preparations
South Africa have a week and a half to prepare for the opening game of their tour in Aotearoa, and the Bok boss is confident that they have worked out the perfect schedule to prepare the players.
“We’ve worked out our training schedule this week in a way that would allow the players to recover from the two physical matches against Australia, while at the same time steadily get into the swing of things for the next two matches,” he said.
“So, we will have only two training sessions this week and then go full throttle into normal Test match mode from Monday.”
South Africa fell to a defeat to Australia in their opening game of the tournament before bouncing back to defeat the Wallabies in their second match.
As for the All Blacks, Scott Robertson’s men began their campaign with a victory over Argentina but fell to a defeat to Los Pumas in round two.
