Veteran Springbok prop Frans Malherbe said that although Saturday’s Test against Wales at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff would be a massive battle, it was exactly what the team needed to get them into prime shape for the Rugby World Cup which kicks off on Friday, 8 September.
The Boks will line up against New Zealand in London on the following Friday, in their final warm-up fixture before departing for a week-long training camp in Corsica en route to France, where they will initially be based in Toulon. Their opening match is against Scotland in Marseille on Sunday, 10 September.
This will be followed by pool matches against Romania in Bordeaux (17 September), Ireland in Paris (23 September) and Tonga in Marseille (1 October).
“Wales are a quality team with good plans,” said Malherbe.
“So, the focus for us will be on doing what we want to do and executing the things we have been working on as well as we can.
“It’s a great opportunity for us to face sides like Wales and the All Blacks before the Rugby World Cup so we can improve on the areas we’d like to work on, build form and further develop the way we want to play.”
The Springboks received the good news this week that their inspirational captain Siya Kolisi had been cleared to play and will start his first match of the season after having surgery to his knee earlier this year, and Malherbe was pleased to welcome him back.
“It’s awesome to have a guy like Siya back,” said Malherbe.
“I’m really happy for him. The two of us have come a long way from playing junior rugby together, so it’s great to see that he is back on the field.”
Malherbe will, in a sense, complete a full circle in his career on Saturday after making his Test debut against Wales in Cardiff in 2013 and he attributed this to hard work: “I’ve been privileged to have been part of the Boks as long as this and I just want to keep working hard and continue to get the backing of the players.”