First Springbok alignment camp gets off to great start

Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus expressed his satisfaction on Tuesday with the strong start to the first Springbok alignment camp of the year following a productive coaches workshop over the weekend and the arrival of the invited players in Cape Town on Monday night.

The purpose of the camp this week, which sees 56 domestically based players all coming from the country’s top four franchises, is to lay a solid foundation ahead of the 2025 international season kicking off in July.

The camp got under way with a morning gym session followed by a series of boardroom sessions throughout the day where Erasmus, Springbok General Manager Charles Wessels and a few of the coaches presented their plans and expectations of the players for the season.

The alignment camp follows hot on the heels of a fruitful coaches’ workshop where they each zoomed into their areas of expertise and identified the aspects of the game in which the team could improve this season.

There will be a further two more alignment camps followed by a training camp in June, before the Boks kick into game mode in their Incoming Series against Italy and Georgia in July.

Coaches workshop

Commenting on the coaches’ workshop, Erasmus said: “The coaches had a good interactive session where we did a deep dive into all the different areas of the game, and everyone gave their input on the areas we believe we need to improve in and focus on this year, to reach the standards we would like to at training and on the field of play.

“It was certainly a productive workshop and allowed us to align completely, while at the same time setting the tone for what we wanted to present to the players.”

The Bok coach was satisfied with the opening day of the camp: “It was fantastic to see how the new players, those who have been at alignment camps before, and other players who have been in the set-up for years, all shared in the excitement of being invited to the camp and soaked in the information and structures we shared with them.

“Wednesday’s session will follow a similar structure, with the other coaches presenting their plans within their specialist areas, so we are confident that the players will leave the camp with a clear picture of what we expect of them and what it will take to be part of the playing squad this year.”