‘Springboks adapting to conditions’ – Mzwandile Stick

Springbok assistant coach Mzwandile Stick has commended the squad for the manner in which they’ve adjusted to the very different and challenging conditions so far during their end-of-year tour to the United Kingdom and Europe.

The Springboks finish their end-of-year tour on Saturday when they play Wales at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff.

The South Africans opened their tour three weeks ago with an agonising one-point loss to England at Twickenham in London, but Siya Kolisi and his team-mates bounced back to win their next two games against France in Paris and Scotland in Edinburgh respectively.

Stick said it is pleasing to see how the tourists have adapted to the challenges in the northern hemisphere, where the playing conditions are mostly wet and slippery.

“I must be honest and give credit to our players for the way they’ve adjusted to the conditions on tour in Europe,” he said.

“They work extremely hard to be well-prepared and I think that is showing in our play at the moment.”

He is also happy with the overall growth of the current squad of players as a Bok group.

“We started a bit slow in June when we played against England and we knew that we have to give opportunities to players and let them play together as we increase the depth of our squad,” added Stick.

“In that respect, we’ve seen a lot of progress and improvement in our squad, especially if you take into account that we’ve a number plenty of chances to players since June as we try and increase our depth for the World Cup.”

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According to Stick, Wales will be a very difficult side to confront on Saturday.

“They have a number of good performances and wins behind them during this month so we know it’s going to be very tough,” he added.

“Wales have a well-balanced team – there are good on attack strong on defence and also have an impressive kicking game. However, we want to finish the tour on a positive note so we will give it our best effort.”