Injured stars Kolisi, Etzebeth join Boks in camp in Durban

Fifteen players, including injured Springboks Siya Kolisi and Eben Etzebeth, as well as a handful of overseas-based players will take part in preparation camps later this month ahead of the international Test season.

The two camps will be held in Durban from 17-19 May and from 29-31 May. No Stormers players will be part of the camps.

The 15 players are:

Lukhanyo Am (Sharks), Kurt-Lee Arendse (Bulls), Pieter-Steph du Toit (Toyota Verblitz), Thomas du Toit, Eben Etzebeth, Jaden Hendrikse, Siya Kolisi (all Sharks), Willie le Roux (Toyota Verblitz), Makazole Mapimpi, Bongi Mbonambi (both Sharks), Canan Moodie (Bulls), Ox Nche (Sharks), Kwagga Smith (Shizuoka Blue Revs), Marco van Staden (Bulls), Grant Williams (Sharks).

Training camp

Kolisi recently underwent a knee operation, which has put him in a race against time to be fit for the World Cup in September, while Etzebeth has a shoulder injury.

Jaden Hendrikse and Canan Moodie are also both currently injured, but will attend the camps.

The Boks kick off their preparations proper for the international season with a training camp in Pretoria from Monday 12 June to Friday 30 June. The Springboks’ opening Test of the year is on 8 July against Australia at Loftus Versfeld.

The other matches in the shortened Rugby Championship are against New Zealand in Auckland (15 July) and Argentina in Joburg (29 July).

‘Building blocks’

SA Rugby said on Monday that several other locally selected players might join the Durban camps after completing their URC commitments.

“With the United Rugby Championship nearing an end and the Rugby Championship around the corner we decided to host two camps to get the ball rolling and get everyone on the same page for the international season,” said coach Jacques Nienaber.

“The camps will include both off and on-field sessions and they will offer us a great opportunity to get the building blocks in place for our first full-on training camp in June in preparation for the Rugby Championship in July.

“These camps will build on those we hosted in Cape Town and Stellenbosch respectively at the end of February and March, which included a bunch of locally based players.”

Springbok 2023 fixtures

Rugby Championship:
Saturday, 8 July – Springboks vs Australia (Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria)
Saturday, 15 July – Springboks vs New Zealand (Mount Smart Stadium, Auckland)
Saturday, 29 July – Springboks vs Argentina (Emirates Airline Park, Johannesburg)

RWC warm-up fixtures:
Saturday, 5 August – Springboks v Argentina (Velez Sarsfield, Buenos Aires)
Saturday, 19 August – Springboks vs Wales (Principality Stadium, Cardiff)
Friday, 25 August – Springboks vs New Zealand (Twickenham, London)

RWC fixtures:
Sunday, 10 September – Springboks v Scotland (Stade Marseille, Marseille)
Sunday, 17 September – Springboks v Romania (Stade de Bordeaux, Bordeaux)
Saturday, 23 September – Springboks v Ireland (Stade de France, Paris)
Sunday, 1 October – Springboks v Tonga (Stade Marseille, Marseille)
Weekend of 14/15 October – Quarter-finals
Weekend of 21/22 October – Semi-finals
Saturday, 28 October – Final