Springboks preparing for ‘a different challenge’ in Rugby Championship

The Springboks were in high spirits when they arrived in Australia ahead of their Rugby Championship opener against the Wallabies at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane on August 10.

Despite having a dismal record against the Wallabies at that venue in recent years, the back-to-back world champions are in a confident mood and looking forward to the challenge of taking on Joe Schmidt’s charges.

After their clash in Brisbane, the Wallabies and Springboks will face off again, at Optus Stadium in Perth on August 17.

‘Great to be in Australia’

“It’s great to be in Australia and it has certainly added to our excitement for the Tests against the Wallabies and the Castle Lager Rugby Championship as a whole,” said Springboks assistant coach Mzwandile Stick.

“We had a smooth journey to Brisbane with an overnight flight to Sydney and then made the short trip to Brisbane soon after, so the players were able to rest well on the long-haul flight.

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“They will have additional time tonight (Australia time) to recover from the travel, and then we’ll hit the ground running on the training field on Friday.”

The Springboks have found the going tough in Brisbane in recent years as they have won just one out of 13 Tests there since 1993.

That was in 2013 when Heyneke Meyer’s Boks clinched a 38-12 victory and Stick admitted that facing the Wallabies on their home turf is always tough.

“Having a few extra days to acclimatise and familiarise ourselves with the conditions will be invaluable,” he added.

‘A good base to build from’

“We started the season well with three victories in our four matches to date (against Wales, Ireland and Portugal), and although we would have loved to win the second Test against Ireland, we have a good base to build from going into the Rugby Championship.

“Playing against the likes of Australia, New Zealand and Argentina will definitely be a different challenge to the teams we have faced so far this season, but we enjoy playing against these teams and we are really looking forward to the competition.”

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