The Springboks made the big switch to Test mode on Wednesday as they returned to the training field in Durban at the first of two preparation camps this month to kick into gear for the international season.
Their quest for automatic qualification for the 2024 Olympic Games may be out of their hands, but the Springbok Sevens team will leave no stone unturned at the HSBC London Sevens this weekend as they give it one final push to book their tickets to Paris next year.
It was during the Captain’s Practice ahead of their Vodacom United Rugby Championship semi-final against Connacht that DHL Stormers flyhalf Manie Libbok turned around to see a fan walking across the field towards him.
Eben Etzebeth is a man mountain and a key enforcer in the Springbok pack heading to the Rugby World Cup. He could just be reaching his peak, writes Jon Cardinelli.
All it takes is a few moments with Rugby World Cup-winning coach Jake White to fully appreciate the value of Vodacom Bulls star Johan Goosen and the reason he has been rated as the most accurate place-kicker in the Vodacom United Rugby Championship this season.
Five referees who have been included on the Rugby World Cup 2023 match official panel have been appointed to take charge of the Springboks’ Castle Lager Rugby Championship and RWC warm-up Tests in the build-up to the international extravaganza in France in September and October.
Chumisa Qawe will lead the Springbok Women to the Rugby Africa Women’s Cup in Madagascar this month where they will play Cameroon, Kenya and Madagascar over the next two weeks.
The Springbok Sevens team put in a huge effort at the HSBC France Sevens this weekend, but sadly the results did not show that, so from the perspective of Blitzbok head coach Sandile Ngcobo, it was not all doom and gloom.
The DHL Stormers will have one goal in mind when they meet Connacht in their Vodacom United Rugby Championship semi-final in Cape Town on Saturday – to deliver a top-class performance that will secure them a place in the Grand Final in two weeks’ time and a shot at defending the title they won last season.
There is no doubt that a core of experienced Blitzboks available for the final two legs of the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series has boosted the confidence of the squad, players and management alike.