Boks are ready for UK tour, says assistant coach Mzwandile Stick

Springbok assistant coach Mzwandile Stick says he is pleased with the team’s first two days of preparations for the upcoming end-of-year tour in Jersey.

The Boks have three Tests lined up next month, against Scotland, England, and Wales.

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“We have two days of training under the belt (in Jersey) and from a coaching perspective it’s been good,” said Stick.

“Everything went smoothly with the travel, while the people in Jersey and the hotel staff have been very welcoming and the training facilities are world-class, so it’s been great so far.

“One can also sense the excitement among the players, and they’re really putting the hard work in at gym and in the field sessions.

“In terms of the training itself, we’re fortunate to have this training camp because some of the players have been participating in the United Rugby Championship while some of the [players based in Japan] have been off, so the main goals for the week have been to ensure that we focus on how we want to play and build the intensity of our training sessions.”

Weather conditions

Stick said the weather conditions in Jersey – from pouring rain to sunshine – had also been good for the team to acclimatise to the UK conditions.

“I don’t think it (the conditions) will be difficult, especially if one considers that the majority of the players have played in the URC here in the UK already,” said Stick.

“That said, the nice thing is that it was a little wet at our first training session, and the chances are good that we might have one or two wet games in the series, so fortunately the players will be well conditioned to handle that.”