Springbok coach Jacques Nienaber said the competition amongst players for places in the Bok team excited him as his charges got ready for a one-week training camp in Paris from Monday before kicking off their Castle Lager Outgoing Tour in Cardiff next week.
Nienaber was excited about the opportunity to spend the week in France this time of the year which is when the 2023 Rugby World Cup will be hosted and said there were a number of benefits to their training camp in Paris.
“The Rugby World Cup is still a far away, and there will be changes in the group and a few injuries, although about 80% of the group could be here then,” said Nienaber.
The South African- and Japan-based Springboks arrived in Paris in two groups on the weekend, and they will return to the training field on Monday where they will put the building blocks in place for their Test matches against Wales in Cardiff (6 November), Scotland in Edinburgh (13 November) and England in London (20 November).
The players based in Europe will join up with their team-mates in Cardiff on Sunday.
Nienaber was excited about the quality of his squad despite missing a number of potential starters in the injured Faf de Klerk (hip flexor), Cheslin Kolbe (knee), Frans Malherbe (neck), RG Snyman (knee) and Pieter-Steph du Toit (shoulder surgery) among others.
“From a squad point of view, we are looking to build consistency in the way we prepare, train and perform, so I don’t think there will be a lot of surprises in team selection," said Nienaber.
“The nice thing about our squad is that no-one is irreplaceable.
“We played the Castle Lager Lions Series without Duane Vermeulen and the Castle Lager Rugby Championship overseas leg without Cheslin Kolbe, so the players playing for their clubs know they must play well and the players in camp need to work hard to stay in the race (for selection).
“That said, all of the players in the group are hard workers, and there is good competition within the group.
“With Faf out (injured), it opens the door for Herschel (Jantjies) and Cobus (Reinach) and possibly even Grant (Williams), and this drives the standards within the group.”
Looking ahead at their three forthcoming Tests, Nienaber said they would approach the tour one match at a time and that the team was in a good mindset after finishing off the Castle Lager Rugby Championship with a victory against New Zealand and a well-deserved break after close to four months together in which they played 10 Tests.