Rassie Erasmus: Bok players now know what’s expected of them

Springboks coach Rassie Erasmus says players who were at the recently concluded alignment camp in Cape Town now know what’s expected of them ahead of the next two camps.

The alignment camp squad, which had 43 players, was the talk of the town when the group was announced as it shed light on what can be expected from the Springboks from this year leading up to the 2027 Rugby World Cup in Australia.

‘Players are on the same page’

The players gathered in Cape Town from Wednesday for a two-day strategic session following a coaches meeting on Monday and Tuesday.

“The keys of the alignment camps are to ensure that the players are on the same page in terms of standards required to perform at top international level and to expose them to our way of doing things, and we are pleased that we achieved that in the last few days,” said Erasmus.

“The camp was invaluable both in terms of developing our structures for the next few seasons and in getting the coaches and players to get to know one another better off the field, especially with the introduction of Jerry (Flannery), Tony (Brown) and Jaco (Peyper) to our coaching staff,” he said.

Springboks blueprint laid

Erasmus hailed the players for showing enthusiasm during the time they spent as they got to outline the plan they have for this year’s international window.

“We also presented the Springbok macro plan for the year, so we are happy with the foundation laid with a little over four months before we kick off the international season.

“I must give credit to the players for their enthusiasm and excitement to learn how we operate in the Springbok set-up, and for buying into our structures.

“We believe that the last two days will be invaluable in laying a good foundation for our next two alignment camps and the season ahead,” said the 2019 Rugby World Cup winning coach.

The next two alignment camps will be hosted between May 1 and 3, and May 22 to 24, respectively, with the venues set to be announced in due course.

The Springboks kick-start their season on June 22 against Wales at Twickenham before hosting Ireland and Portugal in an Incoming Series in July.

The Boks will play Ireland in back-to-back Tests in Pretoria and Durban on July 6 and 13, before lining up against Portugal in their historic first Test in Bloemfontein on July 20.